


Lost Relics

by jeychen5



Series: Riding the Waves [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Funny, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-04 12:18:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10990806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeychen5/pseuds/jeychen5
Summary: Kai figured she could get used to a world where Greek gods of myths were a reality. Well, sort of. Turns out there's a lot of stuff brewing that she never knew had a clue about. When things from the past resurface, how is Kai going to handle them? Sequel to Riding the Waves.





	1. A Boy Band Buys Me Lunch

Okay, I know what you're thinking: why would a long forgotten boy band from the nineties reunite just to buy me pizza? Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. The whole story is a whole lot bigger and weirder than that. Let me start from the beginning. 

It was the weekend after thanksgiving and I was still stuffed like a turducken. You see, my mom just _loves_ thanksgiving—any holiday really—and she always goes all out. I guess it's her way to make up on lost time. When Mom was fourteen see lost her mother and her home. For years she grew up homeless and lived off fish that she and my grandpa caught. That's part of the reason that I hated Poseidon when I found out he was my father. 

Oh, that may be confusing. See, my father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and— oh, you already know that? You know the whole back story? Well then, moving on. 

Mom cooked enough food to feed an army twice over. Stuffing, pound cake, ham, cranberry sauce, a turkey the size of a SUV, yams, pie—you name it, my mom cooked it. I was sure that I gained ten pounds, and it was totally worth it. 

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I was heading to Camp Half-Blood— my home away from home. I left the subway terminal and headed to the streets, my hands buried in the pockets of my camp jacket, my eyes peeled. My sword was strapped to my belt. Luckily, the Mist concealed it so I wouldn't get arrested for carrying a weapon around. My family thought I was on the lacrosse team; Mom would have a heart attack if she knew I was in possession of a deadly weapon. 

Thankfully, nothing too serious happened over my vacation break. Just a dragon spotting and an unfortunate (for them) run in with a few Telchines when we went to the beach. Trust me when I say that is a different story for another time. 

While on the street, I spotted a hot dog stand lined with customers. My stomach growled. I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary with the guy who manned the stand, but I kept my hand close to my sword, just in case. I figured camp dinner wouldn’t be for a few hours, and I wanted the calories. 

I stood in line behind a boy around my age, wondering if Percy was coming to camp this weekend or staying with his parents for the rest of his break. My half-brother on the godly side of things lived in the city with his mom and step-dad most of the time and came to camp on the weekends. I haven’t seen him in a while, and I sort of missed him. 

The line crawled ahead as people lined up behind me. The boy in front of me was just about to pay for his hotdog when a sudden wind rushed by and blew his money out of his hands. 

“Hey!” the boy protested. 

“Sorry, kid,” the guy behind the counter said, not sound very sorry. “But I’m still going to need full payment.” 

“But that was all I had.” 

“Not my problem.” 

Now, the people in the line were getting impatient. I felt sorry for the guy. 

I pulled out the money I hid in my sock. I had enough for a hotdog and _maybe_ a taxi to camp, if I was lucky enough to pick a cab that never hit any of the lights. 

“Here,” I said, putting the money on the counter. “I'll pay for his.” 

The vender shrugged. Money was money. 

I counted my remaining money as I headed down the block. A hand on my shoulder made me jump. I would’ve punched whoever the hand was attach to if I hadn’t seen who it was. 

“Hey,” the guy from the hotdog line said with a smile. 

I nearly had a spaz attack. 

This guy was seriously hot. Messy dark hair framed his perfect face. He had gorgeous brown eyes (I'm a big sucker for brown eyes). I wondered if he was a movie star or something, because he looked kind of familiar… 

_You're mouth is open_ , the still functioning part of my brain told me. 

_I know. Shut up_. 

“What about you?” The gorgeous guy asked. 

“Ab—abo—me-me?” 

_Nice, Kai. Make him think you’re a mental case_. 

I swallowed. “What about me?” 

“Aren’t you hungry?” 

“Oh.” For some reason, I felt a little disappointed. “Yeah, I'm okay.” 

“Let me repay you.” 

“No, it's fine. Really.” 

“I insist.” His smiled turned me into a puddle of salt water. 

“Okay,” I whimper rather pathetically. Something about this guy was making my brain shut down. 

“You like pizza?” he asked. 

“I love pizza.” 

“Good,” he said. “So do my brothers. They’re probably already there by now.” 

“Okay. That’s great news.” 

_Snap out of it!_

“Wait,” I said, finding my thoughts again. “What brothers?” 

“Don't worry,” he said casually. “We're not going to eat you.” 

“But—but—wha—” 

“You're cute when you’re flustered, you know that?” 

I closed my mouth so fast that I almost bit my tongue. My face burned. This guy, whoever he was, noticed that and seemed to take that as a sign of submission. He smirked 

He grabbed me by the hand and steered me towards the opposite direction. 

~*~ 

Before you ask, let me just say that I know I shouldn’t have gone off with a complete stranger who promised me food. I saw the after school specials. Not only that, but this guy could’ve been a monster in disguise. 

But this dude turned my brain into a puddle of mush. I couldn’t think straight. All that existed was him, his beautiful eyes… 

“You…” I said, trying to defog my mind. “You haven’t told me your name.” 

He stopped in his tracks and looked down at me. He was about six inches taller than I was, give or take. “Huh?” 

“Your name?” 

He smirked. “Tell me yours.” 

“I asked you first.” 

“Are you sure? It’s a mouthful.” 

I crossed my arms. “Humor me, would ya?” 

After a moment, he said, “Hedylogos” 

I blinked. “Say what?” 

“My name is Hedylogos. And no, I’m not a monster.” 

“You’re a god then.” 

“Perhaps.” 

“Can I have a straight answer?” I huffed. “Or are gods incapable of cutting to the chase?” 

That seemed to amuse him. Hedylogos looked up at the building we stopped in front of. “Oh look. We’re here.” 

Without even realizing it, he’d led me to my favorite pizza place in the world: Lonardo’s Pizza. My stomach growled happily. 

Hedylogos led me inside towards a corner booth occupied by four other guys. 

“Kai,” Hedylogos said. “These are my brothers. Guys, this is Kaia Fischer.” 

I was so stunned that I didn’t even realize that I never told Hedylogos my name. His brothers looked nothing like each other. They all had different hair colors, eye colors, and skin tones. But they were all attractive. 

Hedylogos introduced me to all of them: 

First was Hymenaeus, the god of weddings and marriage. He was Asian with blond steaks in his black hair and thick rimmed glasses. Out of all of his brothers, he seemed the youngest; maybe thirteen or fourteen. He shifted in his seat, fidgeting his fingers, like he was nervous. 

Besides him was a Hispanic looking guy with close-cropped dark hair and a scowl on his otherwise handsome face: Anteros, the god of mutual love. He wore a leather jacket, which reminded me of a greaser from a fifty’s movie. 

His next brother was a black guy in a dark blue hoodie with warm, gentle eyes. He was big, but his smile was kind and sweet, like a teddy bear. His name was Pothos, the god of longing and yearning. 

Next was Himeros, the god of desire. He had light brown windblown hair and blue eyes like the sky. He looked like any other boy I'd see at school who was way, _way_ out of my league. 

Pretty much, I was standing in front of a godly boy band. I had to remind myself to breath. 

_Come on!_ My brain yelled. _Even_ you _don't gush this badly_. 

_Uh, have you met me?_

_I_ am _you!_

Whoa. That got uncomfortably meta… 

_No problem_ , I tried to convince my galloping heart. I was just surrounded by five love gods. Their godly auras or whatever was messing with my brain. Or heart. Both? Whatever. 

Back at my old school, and even at camp, cute guys paid no attention to me. If they did, I was their friend, and by that time I was in the dreaded Friend Zone. Hayden used to joke that I was cursed. 

I wondered if my obsession with the opposite gender was just puberty, or something that I inherited from Poseidon. It wouldn't really surprise me if the latter were the case. 

“Well,” I said, “you guys are… wow.” 

Pothos and Himeros chuckled under their breath. Anteros rolled his eyes. 

Hedylogos grinned. “Don't you love her?” 

Hymenaeus, who was blushing, perked up. “Fischer?” 

“Yeah,” I said. 

“Your parents are David and Lanakila, correct?” 

I nodded. “You know them?” 

“I was at their wedding,” he said dreamily. “They were married on a yacht; a white and silver theme with dove napkins and a marble cake.” He sighed. “So elegant.” 

I stared at him. He had to be at least my age, how was he at my parent wedding? I reminded myself he was a god. They could look s old or as young as they wanted and be thousands of years old. Appearances didn’t matter. 

“Oh,” I said. “Makes sense.” 

Hedylogos waved for me to take seat. I sat on the edge next to Hymenaeus. He sat opposite of me. 

I plucked a bread stick from the basket and looked at Hedylogos. “So, what are you the god of? The god of whisking girls away to magical pizza parlors?” 

Himeros spoke for him. “Hedylogos is actually the god of flattery and sweet talk.” 

“Oh. So you’re the god of flirting?” 

Hedylogos chuckled under his breath. “Guilty as charged.” Somehow, he made that lame line sound smooth. 

The waitress came over with three trays of meat-lovers, veggie, and extra-extra cheesy pizza. I’ve always liked Lonardo’s because the slices were pretty big. I grabbed one of each. 

The other guys joked around and acted like normal, everyday high school guys (and had the appetite of a normal, everyday high school guy). Other than their combined auras, you could past them on the street and have no clue that there was anything different about them. 

Hymenaeus talked about my parents and grandparents wedding, which was till weird coming from a person who looked my age. I was pretty sure my family had no clue about gods or anything, so I joked that Hymenaeus was a wedding crasher. He blushed. 

Around my fourth or fifth slice of pizza, it had finally sunk in that I was having lunch with a band of gods. This couldn’t have been normal, even if I was a demigod child of one of the big three. As far as I knew, gods just didn’t treat you to lunch… unless they wanted something. 

“Y’know,” I said. “As fun as it’s been I have to ask: why’d you drag me here?” 

They looked at each other, as if deciding who would deliever the bad news. 

“We actually have a task for you,” Pothos said. 

I sighed. “Of course you do.” 

He fished something out of a backpack and placed it on the table. 

I gasped. 

It was the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever seen. It was solid gold, inlaid with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, and emeralds. It sparkled and glittered so brightly that everything around me was faded in color and flat. Something stirred inside me. I wanted that necklace. I needed to have it. 

“We want you to destroy it,” Himeros said bluntly. 

“Why?” I heard myself say. “It so pretty…” 

I reach for it, my hand an inch above it before Anteros grabbed my hand. “Don’t!” 

I frowned. “Why? What’s wrong with it?” 

“It’s cursed to mortals. As soon as you put it on…” 

“You’re life will go to Hades in a handbasket,” Hedylogos finished. 

Anteros rolled his eyes. “Thank you for that.” 

I stared down at the necklace, a little confused. How could something be so beautiful and deadly at the same time? 

“Why is it cursed?” I asked. 

“That’s all Hephaestus’s doing,” Himeros said. “Old fire beard made it himself. It was a gift to our sister, Harmonia” 

I nodded. The story sounded familiar, although I couldn’t put my finger on it. “So why did Hephaestus curse it?” 

“You probably know that Aphrodite isn’t the most loyal wife,” Anteros said, scowling. “The curse was her fault, ultimately.” 

Pothos shot him a glare. “Don’t talk like that. She’s still our mother.” 

“Anyway,” Hedylogos interjected. “To make a long story short: Hephaestus eventually realized why all of us looked like his brothers rather than him and put two-and-two together. He wanted revenge and decided to take it out on Harmonia and her descendents. He made the necklace and gave it to her on her wedding day with Cadmus.” 

“I wish I could’ve attended that wedding,” Hymenaeus sighed sadly. “I heard it was absolutely gorgeous.” 

Hedylogos went on. “After the happy couple were turned into snakes—” 

I blinked. “Wha—” 

“That’s another story. The necklace went to Semele, Dionysus’s mother. When Queen Hera found out that she and Lord Zeus were having an affair, Queen Hera tricked Semele into asking to see Zeus’s true form… and that was her fate. ” “Then it went to Jocasta,” Himeros said. “The mother of Oedipus…” 

My stomach churned. I already knew the story of Oedipus, and how messed up it was. It wasn’t my favorite story. 

Pothos said, “The necklace has been pasted between multiple families over the centuries, taking a different form each time. It makes the wearer forever young and beautiful, but it also causes chaos, misery, and death upon the family of the woman who wears it. It has a highly attractive power, making mortals and monsters alike do anything to get their hands on it.” 

“Monsters want it, to?” I asked. “Why not give it to them, then? So what if it harms _them_?” 

“The necklace will always find its way back to mortals,” Anteros said, grabbing a few more slices of pizza and taking a bite. “That’s a part of its curse, and we don't want this thing destroying anymore lives, got it? The last woman who owned it went insane drove her and her children into a lake.” 

I bit my lip and stared back at the necklace. Its aura no longer seemed enticing, but hateful and cold. 

“It resurfaces in different antique and jewelry stores after the owner dies,” Himeros explained. “We found it on a trip to the Jersey beach—” 

“Proving that there truly is nothing good on the Jersey shore,” Hedylogos said. 

“Obviously,” I said. 

“So we agreed to dump it off on the next demigod they came across,” Himeros finished. 

“Which just so happened to be you,” Hedylogos said. “Excited?” 

I grabbed another breadstick, and resisted the urge to beat him with it. “Hardly. But I doubt I can just deny such a straightforward request, am I right?” 

Hymenaeus smiled sympathetically. “Sorry about this.” 

Not as much as I’m about to be, I wanted to say. 

“Why can't you just destroy it yourselves?” I asked. “You're five gods.” 

Pothos spoke up this time. “The only fire that can destroy this is the same one that it was crafted in. Unfortunately, it's the forges of Hephaestus.” 

“But luckily for you,” Hedylogos said, “there is another way. The fire in the forges at your camp.” 

“What's so special about the fires at camp?” I asked. 

“The forges at camp have the blessing of Hephaestus. They're the next best thing to his forges.” 

“Okay. Makes sense, I guess.” 

I picked up the necklace and stared at it. I was just given the task of escorting a cursed and highly sought after necklace to camp by five hot guys who turned out to be gods… I can honestly say I didn’t see  my day turning out this way. 

I slipped the necklace into my bag. “One last question. What if this doesn't work?” 

“Pray that it does,” Pothos said. 

“I’m talking to five gods. Doesn’t that count?” 

They all looked at each other, as if they never considered that before. 

“Well, this was fun,” Hedylogs said, that grin still plastered on his face. “If you guys will excuse me, I’ll walk the lady to the door.” 

He stood made a big show of offering me his arm, like I should hook my through it. I ignored the gesture. 

Hedylogos led me back over to the entrance. He handed me a roll out cash. 

I frowned down at it. "What's this for?" 

“For a cab back to that camp of yours,” he said. “Trust me. You'll need it.” 

He was right. I was low on dough, and I wasn't about to decline a monetary present. 

“Thanks.” I put the money in my sock. “I gotta ask you this. If you were planning on meeting your brothers here, why were you in line at a hotdog stand?” 

He grinned that mischievous grin of his. “I have my secrets.” 

“So now you're the god of lame secrets?” 

He chuckled. My ears burned. 

“I hope you survive today,” Hedylogos said, almost sounding genuinely sincere. “I'd like to see you again.” 

And with that, he left to go rejoin his brothers, leaving me more flustered than ever. 

~*~ 

Things went south almost immediately. 

The quest (if you could even call it that) was simple enough in my head: all I had to do was catch a cab to camp. Easy. I’ve done in the past. 

But what fun would _easy_ be? Easy is for chumps. 

As soon as I left the pizza parlor, a woman in a business suit and on a cell phone started eyeing me. She didn’t seem like a monster, but I couldn’t be sure. I hefted my bag onto my shoulder and kept walking. 

The woman followed a few car length behind me. I looked back and could tell that she was confused, like she didn’t know why she was following some lacrosse player down the street. It was the magic of the necklace, making her act unreasonably. 

I approached a female jogger heading in my direction who immediately turned around when I past her. A group of high school girls seemed to take a sudden interest in me. 

Soon I had about a dozen hypnotized ladies on my trail who thought that they were inconspicuous. It took everything in me not to turn around and say, “Look. You guys aren’t subtle! Knock it off and go home already.” 

“Hey!” 

Like a dummy, I turned around. 

The business suit lady had caught up to me. She had a daze look on her face. 

“You… ” she said. She grabbed for my bag, but I stepped back. 

I turned to run, but the high school girls somehow snuck up on me. I was surrounded. 

I did the only thing I could do. I ran like the wind. 

In a blink of an eye, I rushed past business lady and my pursuers; flying down the street and dodging pedestrians. 

I didn’t look behind me to see if they were following me. I didn’t need to—I could practically hear the stampede of desperate ladies behind me. 

“Get her!” one called. 

“Why?” asked another. 

“Who cares!” 

“I know I don’t!” 

I ran through crowds, running through alleyways and doubling back, but I never managed to shake them off for longer than a minute or two. I knew they could never catch me at this pace but eventually, I would start to slow down. I could run probably faster than anyone else and had great endurance, but I wasn’t the Flash; I couldn’t run anywhere close to the speed of light and I couldn’t keep this pace up forever. I was pretty sure if I pushed the envelope too much I would explode mid-run. 

This power had come in handy when fighting the Telchines. After that (and after I “explained” why my clothes where shredded to my parents) I realized that running make me crazy hungry. I was grateful for the pizza that the love gods bought me. I wondered if they knew I would need it. 

People on the street stopped to stare at the strange spectacle. While it would take a lot to phase the average New Yorker, I doubt any of the expected to see a dozen crazed females chasing one kid with a lacrosse stick down the street. 

I noticed that not all the women I past joined the brigade to hunt me down. I figured that it was part of the necklace’s power: it granted youth and beauty, so if you were a woman who pursued that, you _wanted_ that necklace, big time. 

I saw a blur of blue and brown off to my left, and before I could react, I hit the sidewalk and skidded into an alley, shredding my shirt and scraping up my arm in the process. 

A wrinkly clawed hand invaded my sight, grabbing for my bag. I tried to roll away, but there were now two wrinkly, liver spotted hands pinning me down 

“Givit ere!” The toothless harpy squawked. “Givit—” 

I cut her off with a face full of my converse sneaker. 

The harpy shrieked, spreading her wings before she could hit the ground. I scrambled up, drawing my sword. 

The harpy hesitated, hovering a few feet in the air. She snarled. “I know you have it. The necklace! Hanit over!" 

“Oh, you want it?" I taunted, which wasn't too bright. "Come get it!" 

The harpy lunged. I leapt to the side, bringing my blade down on her. She rolled away faster than what should have been possible with her plump body. She clawed at my right arm, cutting me and nearly ripping my bag off of my shoulder. 

“Aaugh!” I grabbed my injured arm, feeling wet, sticky blood. The cut wasn’t deep, but I could tell was going to need a bandage along with some ambrosia. 

I slashed at the monster, successfully shearing off a few of her feather. She squawked and hobbled in the air. Her good wing fluttered frantically trying to keep her up in the air. 

This time, she was too slow to dodge. I drove my sword into the harpy’s belly. She disintegrated into yellow sand. 

When I emerged from the alley, pedestrians gave me a double take. I was bleeding and my clothes were ragged, so obviously I’d just killed a homeless man, or I beat him with a lacrosse stick and stole his meat. Either way, they weren’t about to question it. 

I managed to hail a cab without any more incidents. I got in and told the driver where I wanted to go. 

“That’s pretty far,” she said. “There’s not a lot up there. Are you sure, kid?” 

“I’m sure,” I said. 

I caught her giving me a look in the rear view mirror. “What happened to you?” 

“I, uh, got in a fight.” It was technically true. “You should see the other guy.” 

“And where are you heading in your condition?” 

“I’m just visiting family.” Still true. 

The woman gave me another look before finally giving up and driving down the street. She didn’t seem to be as bothered as the other women who were chasing me. She seemed weary of me, but I didn’t feel as though she’d jump me and steal the necklace, which was a good sign. I guess she didn’t have that many vanity issues. I made the mistake of actually feeling hopeful. 

We got down a few blocks before there was a _ba-thump_ on the hood of the cab, and a spear head came through not an inch next to my head. 

I yelped like a sissy. The driver’s scream wasn’t much more dignified. 

“I sssense it! Imenssse power.” 

Hissing. Oh, gods. _Seriously_? 

“What the heck?” The cab driver said. 

In one harsh move, the roof of the cab peeled away like the lid to a can of sardines, revealing two green snake trunks crafted to the torso a fat lady in a muumuu. A dracaenae. 

I cursed in ancient Greek. 

The driver looked as if she was going to have a conniption. “What the world—” 

“Pigeon!” I said, praying that the Mist would lend me some help. “An ugly, aggressive, mutant pigeon. With a knife?” 

“Give me the necklace!” the dracaenae roared. “I know you have it. Where isss it?” 

I pulled out my sword. “Nice pigeon. Back away nicely.” 

The snake woman lunged for me with her spear. I managed to block her blades before they connected with my chest. 

We fought, if you could call it fighting. The backseat was too tight of a space to do much of anything. All I could do was block her blows (she was pretty quick for a snake lady of her size) and kick her repeatedly, which made me feel like a little kid fighting on the playground, but it annoyed her, which distracted her, so that was an advantage. 

But the dracaenae was easily 300 pounds and she was pushing all of that weight onto me. There was no way I could push her off. And it didn’t help that the driver started whipping her red cap into the backseat blinding, sometimes hitting the monster, sometimes hitting me. I was too distracted to noticed that she’d let go of the wheel completely. 

I got a cut on my cheek and a pretty bad gash on my arm and stomach before I finally managed to decapitate her with my sword. She erupted into yellow sand, leaving behind only her spear and purple muumuu. Worst spoils of war, _ever_. 

Grimacing, I pushed the muumuu to the floor. “Well,” I said. “That was—” 

The cabbie shrieked, and the car swerved. I fell onto the back seat, nearly impaling myself with my sword. 

The cab skidded and slammed into a light pole, passenger’s side first. The crunching of wood and metal rang in my ears. I shook the stars in the corner of my vision away and rubbed my head. 

The cab driver muttered something unintelligible; her shoulders were shaking. 

“That’s it!” she moaned. “I can’t do this.” 

She got out of the damaged vehicle and marched down the street. I climbed out after her. 

“Wait!” I called. “I have to get to my family’s house.” 

The lady was shaking her head. “Drive yourself. I’m out of here!” 

“Drive? I’m fourteen! What about your job?” 

“I don’t care! I’m sick of this happening to me!” 

Then she left, muttering to herself about mutant pigeons and horrible customers. I hoped she was going to be okay. 

I inspected the damage to the cab. It looked like Hades, but it was probably still drivable. We’d crashed into a light pole outside of a McHales. Pedestrians stopped to stare at me before shaking their heads and moving along. That had to be the Mist’s doing. There was no other reason why mortals didn’t see this mess. 

The people inside the restaurant ere all staring out of the window, curios and a little confused. 

I smiled and waved, like _Nothing to see here. Carry on_. 

A few of them left the window and went on about their business. One customer rushed out of the restaurant, a panicked look on his face. They probably saw through the Mist and wanted to be the first to snap a picture and Tweet about the wreck. 

But when I saw who it was, I gasped. 

“Percy?” 

“Kai?” 

His eyes darted between me in the busted cab, trying to make sense of the scene. “What happened? What happened to the cab driver?” 

I laughed—partially because this whole situation was insane and I was lucky to still be alive, partially because I was just happy to see him. “It’s a long story. I’m being chased and I have to get to camp five minutes ago and the cab driver sorta… fled. I think she had a nervous breakdown.” 

Percy’s brow furrowed, and I could tell that he was thinking. 

“Okay,” he said finally. “ Okay. I can help you. You can explain everything later.” 

I was far too tired to turn his offer down. More monsters were coming. I needed all the help I could get, and Percy Jackson was the best help I could think of. 

“All right,” I said, staring back at the cab. “But I gotta warn you, there are more monsters and women coming after me, so we have to go right now, but I don’t want to endanger any more mortal cab drivers. So how—” 

Just then, my bad idea light bulb popped over my head. 

I looked up at Percy. “You got your driver’s license, right?”


	2. Grand Theft Auto Saves the Day

_Kaia Fischer, age fourteen, commits motor vehicle theft in broad daylight with ex-suspected felon Percy Jackson, age sixteen, who together murder several ugly women and violate several traffic laws. Friends and family are baffled._

That was the article I imagined would be in _The New York Times_ as Percy drove the hoodless cab down the streets of Manhattan. I shuddered to think of the punishment my parents would give me for pulling this stunt…if it didn’t also give them and my grandparents heart attacks first. 

“I hate this,” Percy muttered under his breath. 

“What,” I said, “running for your life?” 

“No. Well, yes. I meant stealing a taxi. It’s wrong.” 

I sighed, and ripped a piece of my t-shirt off to tie around my bleeding arm. “I know. I don’t like it either, but we needed it. Besides, we can always return it. The hole in the roof wasn’t our fault. I know a very confused woman running around the streets of New York babbling about mutant pigeons who will attest to that. Trust me, they can’t charge us.” 

Percy grinned. “You should be a lawyer.” 

“Nah,” I said. “Too much reading.” 

We flew past a few more blocks. Every once in a while a woman would start to follow us, but Percy managed to lose them. I prayed to whoever was the god of traffic that we’d miss all the red lights. I guess he or she was only half listening. 

I got antsy, waiting at a red light. I kept glancing behind us. “You think more’ll find us? The monsters, I mean.” 

“Two children of Poseidon together, sending off a smell stronger than rotting seafood,” Percy said drily. “How could they find us?” 

“I get it, Per-sassy. Dumb question.” 

“Per-sassy?” 

“The light’s green, brah.” 

Percy started to drive again, eyes fixed on the road. “You still haven’t told me why there are a bunch of dangerous ladies chasing you.” 

“Oops. I guess that is an important detail.” 

I explained to him meeting Hedylogos and his brothers and what they told me about the necklace. 

“I heard that story before,” Percy said. “It was a gift from Hephaestus to his daughter on her wedding day.” 

“Yeah, they gave me the whole back story. The necklace… it’s too dangerous. It’s caused enough misery.” 

I looked out the window and had to do a double take. In the side view mirror, about twenty women of various ages were bringing up the tail. They were knocking over innocent bystanders and climbing over cars. The _Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear_ warning had never been so ironic and terrifying before. 

“Oh gods,” I breathed. 

“What is it?” Percy asked glancing into the rear view mirror. His jaw dropped when he saw the swarm of ladies coming for us 

I cursed. “They’re taking off their pumps!” 

Percy sped through the street, weaving the taxi through cars and running yellow lights. I’d hoped that we’d be able to escape them, but traffic was heavy and a few of them were ballsy enough to get on top of moving cars. Eternal youth and beauty wasn’t worth that much, right? 

The cab took a sharp turn left, the wheels going over a curb. I was sent flying into the back seat, my feet sticking stupidly in the air. 

Through a series of twist and turns that I could no longer keep track of (we probably passed through a warp zone, too), Percy was able to shake off our pursuers. 

I climbed back into the front seat and buckled my seat belt this time. “So,” I said. “How was your Thanksgiving?” 

Percy let out a short laugh. “My mom went to the extreme with the blue food this year. Blue mashed potatoes, blue cranberry sauce. Don’t even ask me how she managed to make an entire turkey blue.” 

I grinned. “Seriously? Please tell me you guys took pictures of it?” 

We caught up—talking about our Thanksgiving breaks— as we went over the Williamsburg Bridge. No one gave us another look as Percy drove the topless cab. The cityscape blended into the countryside. For a while, there was peace. No ladies chasing us, monstrous or otherwise. 

Percy and I talked and joked until the cab ran over something with a _thump-thump_. 

Percy hit the break and the car came to a screeching halt. His face paled. “What did I hit?” 

I shook my head and peered out the back seat window.  Lying in the middle of the road was the crumpled form of a woman. I wanted to jump out of the car and check to see if she was okay, but something stopped me from doing so. 

The woman began to stir, sitting up so that we could see her face clearly. 

It wasn't a human lady. 

Her skin was the color of milk and her hair was pure fire. Underneath her long red dress she had two mismatched legs: one made of bronze, the other of a donkey. 

Her eyes met mine, and her face contorted into a hideous sneer. She got up and started to run towards, clopping along unevenly on her bizarre legs. 

I forgot how to move. 

Percy laid his foot down on the gas pedal, and I was happy that I was wearing a seat belt this time. 

The empousa thankfully couldn’t keep up with a speeding car with her odd legs at the rate we were going. Fortunately, we were getting closer to camp. 

Unfortunately, the Fates liked throwing curveballs our way. 

There was a _flap-flap_ that I heard in the distance, that grew louder and louder. Percy glanced up at the rearview mirror and swore in Ancient Greek. 

A Sphinx was frantically flapping her wings to catch up to our cab. 

I groaned. “She’s flying. Since when can they _fly_?” 

“She looks out of breath,” Percy said. “I don’t think she’ll catch up to us.” 

As if in response, the fates laughed at us. 

Smoke was rising out of the hood of the cab. The car stalled and sputtered to a stop. Smoke curled from underneath the hood. 

I swore in English, Ancient Greek, and even in Hawaiian (don’t tell my mom. She’ll wash my mouth out with three different brands of soap). 

Percy and I scrambled out of the cab. I drew my sword. Percy pulled out Riptide. He removed the cap, and the ballpoint pen expanded into a three foot long blade of celestial bronze awesomeness. 

The Sphinx landed in front of us about ten feet away as she caught her breath. I noticed that she looked fairly familiar. She had poofy blonde hair and an ugly blue blouse that was too tight for her pudgy body. Her name tag read _Elsa_. 

I groaned. “Didn’t I kill you already?” 

Percy looked from her to me. “Wait. You know her?” 

“Unfortunately.” 

Elsa laughed. “You cannot keep me down forever! I have been endowed with new strength! I am powerful! I am—” 

“Look,” Percy interrupted. “Can we skip the boasting and just go straight into the fight?” 

“I second that,” I said. 

Together, we charged. 

The Sphinx was surprisingly faster on land than in the air. I slashed at her with my sword; Percy stabbed and hacked Riptide at her, but she easily dodged all of our attacks. She was definitely easier to kill last time. What was so different now? 

I faked like I was about to stab the Sphinx in the side, then moved to swing the blade at her neck, but the monster was too quick. She knocked my blade out of my hand and struck at me down, sending me sprawling onto the grass. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Percy leap at her sword raised, but Elsa ducked it and raked her claws across his gut, knocking him back. 

My heart dropped six feet. I jumped up. “Hey, wide load! You want the precious?” 

Thankfully, the Sphinx turned her attention onto me. Her icy blue eyes glowed with hate. 

I started to walk in the opposite direction of Percy and my sword, pulling the necklace out of the bag and jingling it at her like keys. 

That got her attention. Elsa flew at me with renewed vigor. 

I didn’t have a plan. All I could think of was to keep her distracted from Percy until a better idea came along. I thought about making a quick grab for my sword, but it was closer to the Sphinx than it was for me. I was quick, but I didn’t think Elsa would have much trouble slicing me into demigod lunch meat if I got to close. 

“Eternal youth _and_ beauty?” I said as if I were talking to a friend and not a flying lion she-beast who wanted to kill me. “I might just keep it for myself.” 

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Percy get up and approach her from behind, stealthy as a ninja. His hoodie and shirt were torn, but I saw no blood. I wanted to sob in relief, but I couldn’t let my gaze linger in fear that the monster might notice. 

I gave the monster an once-over and sneered in disgust—a bitchy act worthy of Drew Tanaka. “I mean, it wouldn’t do _you_ any good. Its magic isn’t _that_ powerful.” 

The Sphinx made a grab for the necklace, but I leapt out of her reach. 

“Though, I suppose you need it more than I do to fix all…” I waved my hand at her. “…all of _that_. Here. Consider it my gift to you.” 

I offered the necklace to her. Elsa grinned wickedly and was about to accept my offer…until Percy ran Riptide through her belly. 

The monster’s grin melted as she looked down at the sword point in her bellybutton. “Not…cool.” And she disappeared in a cloud of yellow vapor. 

I dropped the necklace back into the bag as I went to go retrieve my sword 

“That's like something Annabeth would try,” Percy said, a small smile on his lips. 

“Where you think I learned that from,” I said, thinking of the advice Annabeth had given me. At the time, it seemed silly, but I guess even monsters can be distracted easily if you can grab their attention. ADHD knows no species. 

I looked over Percy, making sure that I was seeing him right. There was no blood from where Elsa attacked him. Not even a cut or a bruise. 

“Why aren’t you bleeding?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re okay, but this is pretty weird.” 

Percy looked down as if noticing for the first time the rips in his clothes. He was about to say something, when his eyes caught something behind me. 

Over the hill, an empousa marched towards us, flanked by six harpies on each side and two dracanae. I swear I could see the she-demon smile. 

I glanced behind us. Camp was _so_ close, but I knew the two of us couldn’t make t without them catching up to us. I could if I ran, but Percy wasn’t as fast as I was and I wasn’t about to leave him behind. 

“Percy,” I said, handing him my bag. “Go. Bring the bag to camp. I—” 

“I’m not leaving you,” he said, shaking his head. “There are way too many of them.” 

“You need the head start. I’ll be the distraction.  I run faster. I can make up the hill to camp” 

But he didn’t listen to me. Before I could try to convince him again, a voice purred, “Percy Jackson?” 

The empousa stood not eight feet from us, her monstrous allies at her side. They stopped when she did, grumbling and glaring at the back of her head. Clearly she was in charge, but they didn’t like it. 

Her image wavered, and she was no longer a fiery monster. She was a thin girl with long brown hair and unnaturally green eyes, like toxic waste green. 

“I knew it,” she grinned. “You _are_ Percy Jackson! It’s my lucky day. You can call me Angel.” 

She chuckled as if she’d just said something clever. 

Percy showed her his sword. “So, _Angel_. You’ve heard of me?” 

“Oh, you’re quite popular amongst us empousai.” She looked him up and down and smirked. “I can see why. Oh how I’d _love_ to take a bite out of you.” 

I scrunched up my nose. “Eww.” 

She gave me an all-too-familiar look of disgust. I used to get that look all the time from Alana’s friends and a few teachers. It was a look that made it clear that someone looked down at me, that they thought that they were better than me. 

My sword handle grew warm in my hand. 

“Do I make you feel jealous?” the empousa asked. “Well, you should be, _fish_. I don’t even need the necklace—I’m beautiful enough as it is already—” she gave a little hair flip, “but since you have it here, I think I’ll take it.” 

She extended her hand as if she actually expected me to give it to her. “Come on. Give it up now, and I promise I’ll be on my merry little way. I won’t even suck his blood a little bit, tempted as I may be. So what’s it gonna be?” 

Percy shook his head. “She’s lying.” 

“Yeah, I figured,” I said, and we attacked. Percy cut down a dracanae and I sliced through a few harpies before the other monsters could react. 

Angel was so surprised she backed up quickly and fell down on her rump, her veil of beauty evaporating. “G-get them!” 

So much happened at once; I was thankful for my ADHD, otherwise, I would have missed everything. 

The harpies attacked Percy, but he was a whirlwind. He slashed his sword in a wide ark, sliced one harpy in half, and stabbed another one. The others retaliated, but no amount of clawing would damage Percy’s skin. He hacked and slashed at the harpies, cutting them down one at a time. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw that red hot flames had engulfed the entire front of the cab, and was starting to spread towards the back. 

The remaining dracanae came after me with a golden mace. She struck down at me, but I blocked it with the flat side of my sword. I rolled out of the way and stabbed her in the side. I grabbed her mace and flung it at one of the harpies fighting Percy, and through sheer luck I managed to strike her in between the eyes. 

I had no time to question where the burst of precision came from. White hot pain erupted across the back of my shoulder. It was Angel, flashing her fangs and claws. 

I lunged at her, bringing my blade down over her head like an executioner. She jumped back and swung her claws at me. I deflected her with the flat of my sword and pushed her away, slashing at her wildly. 

Something felt...off as I was fighting her. I felt like I was on fire, but in a good way. The heat swallowed me completely. The burning sensation was fueling me — encouraging me— and I could fight forever. I _wanted_ to fight forever. 

I almost enjoyed it. 

There was a crazed look in Angel’s eyes, almost akin to fear. It was like she wasn’t used to combat. I heard myself laugh. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed more and more monsters were coming over the hill, shrieking and howling with delight. More monsters to fight. More I could challenge. 

I kicked the she-demon in the stomach, and sent her sprawling onto the green. A grin spread over my face. I stood over her, ready to deliver the final blow. 

There was an explosion from the burning cab, a noise so loud that it vibrated my ear drums. My vision sharpened, which surprised me because I wasn’t even aware that my sight was blurry. My sudden burst of energy drained. 

I blinked trying to remember what happened. I looked down at my sword, and for a moment I noticed that the red seaglass imbedded in the pommel of my sword was glowing the color of blood. 

“Wha—” 

I was tackled to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. My sword flew out of my hand. Angel’s poisonous eyes bore into me; her claws pierced my skin. I struggled to get from under her grasp, but the strength I’d felt only a while ago was gone. 

I dully heard Percy call my name, followed by the sound of fighting. 

A triumphant fire burned in Angel’s eyes. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy th—” 

A golden arrow punctured her throat. The empousa turned to sand and scattered into the wind. 

I turn to the direction where the arrow had flown from. Up on half blood hill stood Will Solace and a half a dozen of his siblings. 

He ordered them to fired, and they all let loose their arrows, each successfully nailing a monster. Soon, there were nothing left but gross piles of sand and a burning car in the distance. 

The Apollo cabin headed down the hill, Will leading the way. He gave the two of us a look. “Do you guys always have to make some big show whenever you arrive at camp?” 

There was another loud explosion from the flaming car. Shrapnel rained down around it. 

Will grimaced. “Apparently yes.” 

~*~ 

Through the use of magical hoses, we were able to put out the fire, but the cab was done for. Chiron called for some Hephaestus kids to come dispose of it and told us not to worry. The cab company was about to receive a very generous donation. 

Afterwards, Percy and I headed to the big house so that I could get fixed up. Everyone came up to us to know what had happened. Chiron dispersed them after he promised they would know during the campfire sing along that night. They didn’t seem too happy to have to wait, but eventually the crowd thinned out. 

“The matter can be saved until tomorrow,” Chiron said after Percy and I told him the whole story. “You may keep the necklace in your possession, if you feel that the magic will not corrupt you. Until then, relax. Go to the infirmary, and enjoy the camp fire sing along tonight. You have done well, heroes.” 

Percy told me he would meet me at dinner. He decided to stay at camp until after the necklace was destroyed the next day. 

I followed Will into the infirmary. “I’m sick of meeting you in here,” he said. 

“Get use to it,” I said. “I have a feeling I’ll be in here a lot.” 

Will rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. 

In the infirmary, there was somebody already sleeping in one of the beds in a full body cast. They looked like the Michelin Man got his ass handed to him. 

“Oh, gods!” I said to Will. “Is that Jake Mason? What happened to him?” 

“The dragon went berserk. It happened while you were away.” 

“Dragon? You mean Peleus?” 

Will shook his head. “No, it was the metal dragon.” 

“A metal dragon.” I sat on the empty bed and removed my hoodie. “When did we get one of those?” 

He looked at me funny. “It's been here at least a year. How could you not have seen it?” 

I shrugged. “My sight is selective, apparently. So where is this dragon now?” 

“Somewhere in the woods. No one's sure, though. Cabin nine is laying down all sorts of traps.” 

Will sighed, gathering his healing supplies. “It's been acting funny for a while now, ever since Beckendorf died, but I guess it finally snapped.” 

I knew who Beckendorf was. In the last Titan War, he’d given up his life to destroy a boatload of monsters. He was one of Percy’s friends. 

“Poor Jake, though,” I said “So I'm guessing Nyssa is in charge now?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Good. I'll need her help in the forges. The last thing I want to do is burn down the whole camp.” 

Will frowned. “What do to need the forges for?” 

“I need to destroy something.” I rummaged through my bag and pulled out the necklace. 

Will gasped. “Is that—” 

“Yup.” 

“I thought it was lost. How did you find it?” 

I told Will the story, from meeting Hedylogos to being chased down by girls with depressingly low self esteem to stealing the cab to being attack near camp. 

Will gaped at me. “You met the Erotes?” 

“Erotes?” 

“They're kind of like Eros's followers, but they hate being called that. If they're not with him or Aphrodite, they hang out together, making desperate girls swoon and drool all over themselves like complete morons.” 

I rubbed the back of my head “Haha. Wouldn't that be… silly?” 

“Oh.” Will looked like he was about to bust a gut. They got to you, didn’t they?” 

My cheeks burned. “Shut up, Solace. Come fix me already.” 

~*~ 

At dinner, I sacrificed part of my meal, thanking Poseidon for sending me some help. 

I munched happily on brisket and olive pizza. Percy had his chalice filled with electric blue cherry coke. He had a cheese burger, made of only the freshest of bread and leanest of beef. Camp food tended to be pretty healthy. 

Suddenly, I remembered that Percy was out eating when I ran into him earlier, and it occurred to me how horribly disruptive this whole ordeal must've been for him. He was completely sideswiped by this, and I never even thought for one moment that I might've interrupted Percy hanging out with his friends or family. I felt guilty for letting him help me (which was kind of dumb, since Percy wasn't the kind of person to let someone fend for themselves). Nevertheless, the guilt stuck. 

“Hey, Percy?” 

He looked up from his burger. “What's up?” 

I sighed. “I'm sorry about today. Running from crazed monstrous femme fatales probably wasn't on your to do list.” 

His eyes softened a degree. “Don't worry about it. We made it, right?” 

“Still… ey, how about the next time I run into you we can go back to McHale’s on me?” 

“Okay. It’s a deal,” he said, smiling. 

I smiled back. 

“You still haven’t told me why your skin is made of titanium,” I said. 

Percy was quiet for a moment. “It’s the curse of Achilles.” 

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I was speechless. 

“Before the Batttle of Manhattan, Nico di Angelo convinced me to bathe in the River Styx. We were low on campers and needed to have an edge over the Titan army. I thought the idea was too dangerous. The Styx is too powerful. My soul would have been destroyed if I wasn’t able to think of the one thing that anchored me to my mortality.” 

“What did you think about?” I asked not thinking that the question might be a bit personal. 

Percy was quiet for a second before saying, “I saw Annabeth.” 

“Oh. Well that’s awesome. Your skin is a suit of armor. Y’know, I have my own secret super power.” 

I told Percy what happened the day of Hayden’s funeral, after Thetis escorted me off. I hadn’t told Percy about it, and my friends that did know about my power didn’t know the full story behind it. 

I wiped my eyes as I finished. 

“Wow,” was all that Percy said. 

“I know, right? It’s sorta like pot, it gives me the munchies.” 

He laughed and shook his head. 

After dinner, Percy and I headed to the campfire for s'mores and the sing along. I sang along (quite horribly, thank you very much) about rowing my boat down the Styx, but something that Percy said stuck with me for whatever reason. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was in Percy’s place, what would anchor me?


	3. I Lose a Brother for Chanukah

Destroying the necklace was much more anticlimactic than I anticipated. 

It burned rather than melting like normal metal. As it turned to ashes, I couldn't help but think about the lives that it has corrupted and ruined. All because the of the god's pettiness. Aphrodite was unfaithful; Hephaestus was vengeful and took it out on his innocent daughter. It wasn't fair how anyone could get away with stuff like that, even the gods. 

And speaking of gods, Mr. D was missing that morning at breakfast. He wasn’t present at dinner the last night, too, but I hadn’t been paying too close of attention. Usually, he’d skip a meal or two. 

When Percy asked about it, all Chiron said was that he’d been recalled to Olympus. 

“Recalled,” Percy repeated. “Like bad peanut butter?” 

“Meanwhile, the air around here has never been this pleasant before,” I said. 

Percy left for the mortal world after the necklace was destroyed, and life went on at camp as usual. Monsters howled in the woods, Pegasi and their riders dominated the skies, and Greek triremes sailed out into the sea for practice battles. Kids from the Hermes and Tyche's cabins were gambling with each other, the Ares kids was setting more traps around their cabin, and the inhabitants in the Hypnos cabin were snoozing away peacefully. 

I went through my usual daily activities: sword fighting, Ancient Greek, Pegasus riding, which I'm proud to say that I was getting better and better at it. The Pegasi seemed to like me, especially Blackjack, an old companion of Percy's, although it may just be because I snuck donuts into camp once. 

Capture the Flag was canceled due to the malfunctioning dragon on the loose. Nyssa and her siblings were nearly going out of their minds trying to find and destroy it. None of them wanted to do it, but the thing was just too dangerous. 

The dragon came back once during the middle of the night. It set a few trees on fire and destroyed part of the Nemesis cabin before we managed to drive it off back into the woods. Too many satyrs were almost eaten… 

I participated in the canoe races and won almost every time (I lost on purpose most of the time. Winning all the time isn't very fun or sportsman-like). I was saving up the store credit I won for bartering with the other cabins in exchange for better chores and shower times. 

Percy came to camp every once in a while on the weekends, sometimes with Annabeth whenever she wasn't at Mount Olympus. I haven't seen Nico since the day he left camp. I was worried about him being out all by himself, but Percy assured me that Nico could take care of himself. He was a pretty powerful half-blood. 

Mr. D never came back from Olympus, but it wasn't that that bothered everyone, it was the uncertainty. Why was Olympus shut down? What was going on? If Chiron knew anything, he didn't share it with us. 

December came, but you'd never know it if from within the camp's borders. Snow fell lightly past Peleus and the Golden Fleece. It was weird being able to wear shorts in the winter. It felt like I was living in Florida. 

Every now and then I’d watch the snow fall and think about Hayden. Winter was her favorite time of the year, and I never understood why. Maybe it was the calmness of it all, or maybe it was how the snow turned everything white and made it look pure and beautiful. 

I would past by the empty Thetis cabin and look through the window. Hayden's axe hung on the far end of the wall. Nyssa helped me with the little project. I figured the axe belonged there instead of in the Poseidon cabin. 

I started having dreams of Hayden’s memories. They were vague and blurry and I didn’t remember much after I woke up, but the emotions were still there. Sometimes they were scary, and other times they were more bittersweet. I was longing for a feeling that didn’t belong to me, a memory I never earned. I woke up crying almost every time. 

It was halfway through December, and mortal schools were starting their Winter Breaks early, which meant I got to see Percy, Annabeth, Lacy, and my other camp friends who didn’t stay at camp year round. I was excited. 

After breakfast Percy and Annabeth went off, hand in hand, smiling sweetly at each other. 

Lacy sighed happily and swooned. “They are _sooo_ the cutest couple at camp.” 

“I guess so,” I said, shrugging. 

“You have no heart.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, Lace.” 

Never in a million years would I admit this to anyone, but I was sort of jealous of the relationship he had with Annabeth. They were so lucky to have each other. I thought offhandedly about Hedylogos, the only attractive guy to _ever_ flirt with me was the god of flirtation. 

I mentally kicked myself for throwing my low self-esteem themed pity-party. It was probably the lingering effects of the Necklace of Harmonia. Yeah. That made sense.   

Noon rolled around, and I convinced Lacy and Lou Ellen to drag Nyssa away from the forges so that we could hang out together. It took some coaxing, but Nyssa eventually caved in and agreed to come along with us. 

It was just the four of us sitting by the lake. Lou Ellen insisted on braiding my hair so I let her, figuring “why not?” Lacy was lying down on the grass, her chin in her hands and her legs dangling in the air as she chatted away excitedly about her school in Brookline and her friends she had there. Nyssa looked onto the lake gloomily, resting her chin in her hand. 

“I shouldn’t be here,” Nyssa grumbled. “I have work to do.” 

“Relax, Nyss,” I said. “You’ve been working your butt off looking for that dragon. Take a break.” 

Nyssa muttered something under her breath. 

“I heard what happened to Jake,” Lacy said. “How is he doing?” 

“He’s fine,” Nyssa said dryly. “He just broke all the boned is his body.” 

Lacy looked away dejectedly. 

Nyssa sighed. “I’m sorry, Lacy. This whole thing with the dragon has me and the rest of my siblings on edge. The Ares cabin is mad at us because they can’t play Capture the Flag anymore.” 

“And you know how they burn with murder lust,” I added. 

“On top of that, everything that my cabin has built lately hasn’t been working right.” 

“It’s the curse of cabin nine,” Lou Ellen said. 

Nyssa frowned. “You know I don’t believe in the curse. But something is going on...” 

_Yeah_ , I thought. _Something like an obvious curse_. 

The whole camp knew about the trouble the Hephaestus cabin was going through. Lately all of their creations were going haywire and malfunctioning. I believed in the curse. The Hephaestus kids were _born_ to build things. So for everything for them to build not work didn’t make any sense. 

“Everything will work out,” I said. “Don’t stress so much.” 

She fixed her eyes on the lake, her brow furrowed in distressed. I doubted she believed me. I wasn’t even sure if I believed it myself. 

“So,” Lacy said, rolling onto her back. “Did we finally get Kai to agree to a make-over?” 

“Hey!” I protested. “I don’t need a make-over. Make up is eeeeevil.” 

Nyssa snorted. “You’re just still mad about what happened between you Drew.” 

I glare at her. 

She held up her hands in defense. “I’m just saying. You’ve been holding a grudge forever. Maybe you should let it go.” 

“Could _you_ let it go?” I asked. 

Nyssa looked away and coughed. “Well, uh…” 

“Exactly. By the by, is the   _Royal Highness_ here?” 

Lacy shrugged apologetically. “Sorry.” 

I groaned. “Oh, boo!” 

Lou Ellen patted my shoulder. “Don’t be so sad Kai. I finished your hair. Take a look.” 

She fashioned a handheld mirror out of Mist and handed it to me. I looked and my jaw dropped. 

“Lou,” I said slowly. “What did you do to my hair?” 

“What? I braided it.” 

“Noooo, you gave me cornrows.” 

Lou Ellen shrugged. “It’s the same difference.” 

Nyssa unsuccessfully stifled a laugh. I shot her another look. 

“I think you look cute,” Lacy said, but she looked like she was a second away from laughing, too. 

Lou Ellen crossed her arms and pouted. “Everyone’s a critic.” 

~*~ 

“I can't believe you've never surfed,” I said, shaking my head. “Aren't you a son of the sea god?” 

Percy and I were heading to the dining pavilion from the sword arena. Percy was helping me learn the maneuver where I force an opponent to drop their sword. I still didn’t get it, but Percy assured me that I would eventually. 

Percy shook his head, but he laughed. “Wouldn't that be kind of cliché?” 

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Whatever. I used to live in Hawaii. Everyone surfed there. It was against the law not to.” 

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true.” 

Dinner, as usual, was great, and the campfire was fun. I sang off key, ate gooey s’mores and joked around with Percy and my friends. 

Everything was going perfect. I felt like a normal kid at a normal camp hanging out with all of my friends, and I could forget about monsters and gods. I was at home and could let my guard down. 

After the lights out, I wished Percy sweet dreams and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. For the first time since coming back to camp, I got a peaceful, dreamless sleep. 

When I woke up the next morning, Percy wasn't in the cabin. 

“Huh?” I muttered, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. I shrugged it off, assuming he was just up early and went to the sword arena for some pre-breakfast training. I rolled out of bed and headed to breakfast. 

Percy wasn't at breakfast, which wasn't like him (he loved camp pancakes, even though they weren't blue). When I asked Annabeth if she’s seen him, she shook her head. 

“That’s not like him,” she said. “Maybe he’s in the arena.” 

Annabeth and I checked the sword arena, the stables, searched through the woods, and scoured the camp, but no Percy. It was Annabeth's idea to try and I.M. him, but even the rainbow goddess didn't know where to find him. 

“I don't like this," Annabeth said. "Kaia, go let Chiron know about this. I'm going to check the video shield.” 

I did as I was told. Chiron stroked his beard, worry lines etched into his brow. 

"This is most concerning," he said. “I will place a call to his mother to see if Percy has been in touch with her.” 

In the mean time, I decided to place a call of my own. 

I headed down to the Iris cabin, which naturally had the best fountain to send a message in. I dug a golden drachma out of my pocket and tossed it into the fountain. 

"O, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering." I tossed the drachma into the mist and watched as it disappeared. “Show me to Nico di Angelo…please.” 

The mist rippled, and the image of Nico appeared in front of me. I’m proud to say my cheeks didn’t heat up and I didn’t get flustered. My crush on Nico faded with time. 

Nico seemed to be somewhere dark and brooding. Probably the underworld. The depressing aura seemed to seep from out of the vision in dark waves. 

“Hey, Nico!” 

Nico jumped and looked at me questionably, as if he was wondering if I was a ghost or not. 

I waved. “Howzit?” 

“Kaia?” he said. “What is it? Is something wrong?” 

“No. Well, yes—” 

“Which is it?” 

I sighed and decided to get to the point. “Percy's missing.” 

Nico’s eyes widened. “What?” 

“Since this morning. Annabeth and I searched camp and we’ve tried Iris Messaging him, but we can seem to find him. I was wondering if, y’know, you’ve seen him or something?” 

“No,” he said quietly. “Not at all.” 

A brief look of distraught flashed across Nico’s usual stoic face. I felt a little bad on his behalf. Nico and Percy were friends, and I had a hunch that Nico might’ve had feelings for Percy. It was then it dawned on me that Percy had a lot of people at camp who like and/or respected him. How were they gonna react if it turned out that Percy is really missing, and not just away for a while? 

Nico’s voice snapped me back into the present. “I’ll talk to the dead. Maybe they could tell me something. I’ll do everything I can and let you know if something comes up.” 

I smiled, my shoulders relaxing a little. “Thanks, Nico. I owe you one.” 

He shrugged. “Don’t mention it.” 

Nico raised his hand to swipe the vision. 

I tensed. “Wait!” 

He froze. “What is it?” 

I glanced away briefly and shifted on my feet. “Just… Take care of yourself, all right?” 

Nico froze for a moment before nodding. “You too.” 

He swiped the Iris Message, and the image of Nico di Angelo faded. 

~*~ 

After the talk with Nico, I went to the beach to search for Percy. I dived into the ocean, going as far out as I could, keeping my eyes peeled for any trace of Percy. 

I’ve gone underwater multiple times in my life before, but ever since I was claimed by Poseidon, I realized that my underwater vision wasn’t normal. For starters, my underwater sight was different that other people’s. I could see the movement of the water currents and the heat (or lack of) that radiated off of things. 

There was no hint of Percy I came across a school of fish that were passing by if they saw him. Sadly they didn’t. 

I resurfaced and went back to the Big House. Annabeth was already there with Chiron on the porch. She had the video shield in front of her and was scowling at it. 

“No luck?” I asked 

She shook her head. 

I looked to Chiron. “And his mom? What did she say?” 

“Sally is, too, unaware of Percy’s whereabouts, but will call us if she has any information.” 

My chest fell at that news. I told them that I Iris Messaged Nico and told them that he would be looking for Percy, too. 

“I’ve gotten in touch with Tyson,” Chiron added. “He said that he would try to make it to camp within the next few days.” 

“Good,” Annabeth said, making me jump. She was so quiet that I forgot that she was there for a second. “I’ll try to get in touch with Rachel and Thalia. I got a bad feeling that we’re going to need all the help we can get.” 

~*~ 

The next day Chiron let everyone know of the missing Percy situation, which, predictably, caused camp-wide panic. The Hecate cabin was casting a search spell, but weren’t having too much luck. The children of Iris were helping the search, too. With their parentage, they were most likely to be able to connect with Percy, or at least that’s what we thought. Butch and his siblings were praying to their mother, but haven’t received a sign of any kind. 

It’s been that way for a while. We haven’t received any messages from the gods every since Mr. D was left. No one had the slightest clue what was happening. 

Annabeth, Chiron, and I were once again on the porch. Annabeth had the video disk again; her gray eyes were so intense, as if she was trying to will it into showing her where Percy was. She checked everyplace that came to mind, but she still couldn’t find Percy. 

“I don’t like this,” Annabeth said. The slight bags under her eyes told me that she didn’t get much sleep that night. “How could Percy just vanish into thin air without a trace? It makes no sense.” 

Annabeth was all about rational thinking and reasoning, so I knew that having to solve a problem that wasn’t very logical was driving her nuts, especially since it was Percy who was missing. It was clear (even to a dingus like me) how they felt about each other. 

“How bout I go check out the lake and talk to the Naiads,” I said. “Maybe they can tell me something.” 

It was a long shot, but I figured it was worth a try. 

"Good idea," Annabeth muttered, but I got the feeling she didn’t really hear me. 

Just as I thought, the Naiads didn't know a thing. They looked so heartbroken when I told them that Percy was missing. Children of Poseidon were pretty popular with ocean spirits, as well as fish. 

I emerged from the lake, pulled myself out, and sat on the docks. Staring into the crystal clear waters of the lake, I let out a frustrated sigh. 

Percy had a history of sneaking out of the camp, so I wasn’t too concern at first. But when the Iris Messages weren’t going through, I started to get nervous. At the very least, Percy would’ve let Annabeth or his mom know where he went. 

A part of me knew this was _Percy_ ; the strongest and most powerful demigod alive. He had the Curse of Achilles, so if anything were to happen, I knew he could handle. But still, he wasn’t completely invulnerable. A monster could get lucky and… 

No. Percy would be fine. We’d find him and never stop looking until we did. He would do the same for any of us. 

All of a sudden, a shadow loomed over me, interrupting me from my thoughts. I turned to see who it was and frowned. 

It was Drew Tanaka, flanked by her mindless followers. She smirked down at me, her brown eyes sparkling cruelly under pink eye shadow. 

I resisted the urge to drown her in the lake right then and there. 

You all should be applauding me. 

“So,” Drew said, flipping her hair nonchalantly over her shoulder, “I hear Percy’s missing.” 

I sighed and stood up. “Everyone knows, Drew.” 

"You poor baby,” she said genuinely sincere (SARCASM). “It’s such a shame. Percy was always pretty cute.” 

“That’s grosser coming from you than from an empousa.” 

Drew smiled sardonically. “Maybe he left because he couldn't stand being around you anymore." 

She leaned towards me, hand to her mouth as if she were telling me a secret. "You do sort of smell like seaweed. I suggest a _shower_.” She pronounced “shower” slowly as if I was a child learning a new word. 

My cheeks burned. I glared at Drew. "I don't have time for you, Tanaka.” 

Her eyes narrowed, but I paid no attention to her. I pushed past Drew, purposely hitting her shoulder. 

“Oh, puh-lease honey,” she called. “As if you have something better to do than splash around in a dirty puddle.” 

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned. I knew I should’ve just let it go and walked around. That would be the smart thing to do, the _mature_ thing, even. 

Alas, I’m wasn’t very smart or mature. 

I crossed my arms. "I don't know. Would shooting your ass full of arrows again qualify as something better?” 

Drew fixed me with an evil stare. "Why don't you just go jump into Tartarus?" 

"Because being around you is hellish enough." 

And with that I marched back to the Big House, first clenched, not bothering to glance back. 

~*~ 

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I saw a few of the Hunter of Artemis leave the Big House that morning, following a few of their hunting wolves trying to follow Percy’s scent. 

I went through my daily activities, but I was on autopilot all day. My mind was everywhere except for the task in front of me. I paid so little attention in sword fighting class, that I had to go see Will in the infirmary again (he was not pleased). He bandaged up my arm and sent me to my cabin. 

When I saw the Cyclops in the back of my room, I froze. 

In any other situation, I would’ve already drawn my sword, attacked first and questions never. But I knew this wasn’t some blood-thirsty, cannibalistic monster (monsters couldn’t get past the magical boundaries uninvited anyway). 

I approached slowly. “Tyson?” 

He turned to face me, confusion in his one brown eye. “Yes?” 

“I’m Kai,” I said. 

“Kai?” 

“Yeah. I’m kinda your sister.” 

His eye widen. “Sister?” 

“Yeah. I—” 

Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the bone crushing hug that Tyson gave me. I _heard_ my own back cracking. 

“Sister!” he said with absolute delight. 

Despite my predicament, I smiled. “Yup. I’m your sister. And you’re _breaking_ sissy’s back…” 

“Oh,” Tyson said, a little embarrassed. He placed me back down. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” I squeaked. Then I noticed what had Tyson’s attention when I first entered the room. 

It was the fountain that was cleaved in two that sat in the back of the cabin—except it wasn’t destroyed any more. It was flawless. Percy told me he destroyed it around a year ago when he got a disturbing Iris Message involving Nico (trust me, it’s a long story). 

The fountain was made of gray sea rock with a fish squirting salt water out of his mouth that landed into the water below. Warm steam curled out of the pools. The whole room was filled with the smell of the ocean, and I almost forgot that it was winter outside. 

I stared at it, dumbfounded. “It’s beautiful,” I said. You fixed it?” 

“Yes!” Tyson said proudly. “For Percy!” 

As soon as he said Percy’s name, tears started swelling up in his eye. He covered his face with his big hands and started to sob. 

My heart ached. I touched Tyson’s arm. “Hey, don’t’ cry big guy. We’ll find him. And when we do, he’ll be so happy that you fixed the fountain.” 

But Tyson kept crying his eye out. It was clear that Percy meant a lot to him. His cries were almost too painful to listen to. 

I wanted to say something, something that would lift both of our spirits, but my mind drew a blank. A part of me wanted to sob with him, but I held myself back for Tyson's sake. 

~*~ 

Tyson took Mrs. O'Leary and set out on his quest to find Percy. I wished the big guy luck and told him to hug Percy extra hard for me if he found him first. He was now more determined than ever to find our missing brother. 

Chiron ordered all of the head counselors into the war room the next morning—it was my first meeting as a head counselor, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I definitely didn’t expect it to be in the rec room. I didn’t even know camp had a rec room. 

Annabeth sat at the head of the ping-pong table [sic] which made sense. She’d been at camp longer than anyone, so it just felt right. Chiron sat next to her in his magical wheelchair. Lou Ellen sat next to me, messing with the Stoll brothers by stealing their noses and switching them with Miranda Gardiner from the Demeter cabin. Drew sat across from me at the table, shooting daggers at each other as I resisted the urge to spray Cheese Whiz in her perfect hair. Clovis snoozed faced down on the table. 

Annabeth started the meeting off with a wham line. “I got a dream message from Hera last night.” 

Instantly, everyone started talking at once. What was the message? Why Hera? Did she mention why the gods cut off all communication. Why did Hera choose to speak to Annabeth? 

“Heroes, please!” Chiron called over all the talking. “Annabeth is not quite done.” 

The room grew silent again as all attention was now on Annabeth. 

Exhaling deeply, Annabeth stood, her palms down on the table. “I think I know where Percy is.”


	4. I Help Out a Mad Genius

Annabeth and Butch borrowed the Apollo cabin’s chariot with Will’s permission and took off on the rescue mission as soon as possible. I offered to go but Annabeth insisted that it would just be a short mission. So I stayed at camp and waited. Again. 

I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and held Chalk, the stuffed panda I got when I was a kid. For years I thought that it was my dad who gave me the toy before I found out that it was Poseidon—who kinda sorta kidnapped me—who took me to the zoo. But Poseidon _is_ my father too, so I guess I was half right. 

I stared into Chalk's beady marble eyes, half expecting Poseidon's voice to channel out of his mouth and tell me what happened to Percy. Sadly, that didn't happen. Then again, I don’t know how I would’ve handled a situation like that. 

"Where did you go?" I muttered under my breath. 

Surprisingly, there was no response from the inanimate stuffed toy. 

There was a knock on my door that shook me out of my thoughts. I jumped down from the bed and opened the door. It was Lacy. 

"Hey, Lace,” I said. “What’s—” 

“Annabeth and Butch just got back," she said, walking into my cabin. 

“Percy?" 

She shook her head. "I’m sorry, Kai." 

I looked away, staring at Percy's empty bed. Anger, frustration, and confusion churned around inside of me. I didn’t know what to do with those emotions. Sighing, I plopped onto an empty bunk and rubbed my temples. 

Lacy frowned and sat next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "There’s good news. Annabeth came back with three new demigods. One of them–Jason– is _so_ cute. Too bad Drew pretty much claimed him already.” 

I scrunched up my nose. “She can't just _claim_ someone like they're property, that’s our parents’ job. Then again, this is Drew we're talking about." 

Lacy tucked her feet underneath her. "Maybe you should give Drew a break, Kai. She wasn't always a—” 

“A raging beeyatch?” 

She pursed her lips and gave me a disapproving look. "Not exactly the word I'd use, but yes. There was a time when she was actually _nice_." 

I rolled my eyes. "Pfft! And I used to be King of Mars." 

Lacy decided to drop the topic and told me the rest of the story of Annabeth’s return. We left my cabin and went our separate ways after saying goodbye. I decided to go speak to Chiron since Percy wasn’t found. It was just a formality, really. Chiron has to give me permission to go out and search for Percy. 

Halfway across the green, I ran into Will and a camper I didn’t recognize—one of the new campers we got today. 

The guy was Hispanic, skinny but still kinda cute in an impish sort of way. He had pointed ears and a mischievous gleam in his eye that let you know that he had already dropped the firecrackers down your gym shorts. This guy would have fit in perfectly with the Hermes cabin. 

“’Sup, Kai,” Will said when he saw me. 

“Howzit Will?” I said. “Other dude.” 

“This is Leo,” Will said. “Leo, Kai. She’s the daughter of Poseidon. Leo here was just claimed by Hephaestus.” 

I waved. “Welcome to camp, Leo.” 

“Thanks,” Leo said. “So, Poseidon, huh? That’s cool. Is he the dude with the white beard, fish tail, and giant fork?” 

I snorted a laugh. “That’s King Triton from the _Little Mermaid_. _And the Little Mermaid II_. I didn’t see the third one.” 

“ _Riiiiight._ That should’ve been obvious.” 

“No, no,” I said. “It’s a _very_ easy mistake to make.” 

Will fixed us with a deadpan look. “Sure, since Disney is known for their accurate take on original stories.” 

I playfully elbowed Will in the shoulder. “Very funny. Anyway, I heard what happened to your chariot. Sorry, man.” 

He sighed. “It’s fine. Actually, no it’s not. It’s totally destroyed. But thankfully Annabeth promised to get it fixed.” 

“At least it went out in a blaze of glory,” Leo rationalized. 

I was too late to cover up my laugh. Will rolled his eyes. 

“I’m actually in the middle giving Leo his tour,” Will said. “I’ll catch up with you later, Kai.” 

I waved goodbye to the two of them and headed towards the Big House. 

~*~ 

It was absolute Minotaur crap. 

Chiron refused to give me permission to go out looking for Percy. He said that I have a family who is expecting me to return home for the holidays tomorrow. I pointed out that Chiron could manipulate the Mist so that my family wouldn’t find it strange, but even as I said it, I knew that it was wrong to abandon my family on Christmas. 

“Percy would want you to spend time with your family Christmas,” Chiron said. “I know that it’s hard but it’s for the best. I’m sorry, dear.” 

I still wanted argue. Percy was my family, too! How could I do nothing when he was gods-know-where? But the look on Chiron’s face told me that the discussion was for over. 

I tried to think positively. We had people searching all over the country. Percy was bound to found of one of them. Right? 

A small part of me couldn’t help but wonder if I was even capable enough to go out and find Percy. Was I strong enough to face the monsters between me and him? Could I even find him in the first place? Percy vanished into thin air. I wouldn’t know where to begin. But I wanted to try. I wanted to be out there looking for him. He would’ve done the same for me. He _has_ done the same for me. 

“Yo, Poseidon,” I said quietly. “A sign or some guidance would be nice right about now.” 

Instead, I got Drew Tanaka. She was arm-in-arm with a new camper who was obviously uncomfortable. When she saw me, she got a sour look on her face. 

"Oh, sorry, hon," Drew said. "I almost mistook you for Chiron. Don't mind her, Jason, she's just..." she fixed me with a distasteful look. "She's just Kaia." 

Jason nodded politely. "Nice to meet you." 

Jason was cute, I guess. The whole blonde hair, blue eyes deal reminded me too much of my dad ( _squick!_ ). He wore a purple shirt under his windbreaker that, for some reason, made me feel uneasy. I noticed the marks on his arm: a ton of dash marks that reminded me of a bar code under an eagle with the letters SPQR. I didn't recognize the markings at all, but I couldn't really disregard them either. 

I straighten and smiled before he could think I was staring. "You too, Jason. Welcome to camp. And FYI, I'd steer clear of Drew here." 

I mouthed "she stuffs her bra." Jason looked confused, but thankfully Drew could read lips. She balled up her hands into fist, her dark eyes burning with hate. 

I strolled away innocently, resisting the urge to see if Drew was still fuming. 

~*~ 

You might be wondering why I hate Drew Tanaka so much. Well, simply put, Drew Tanaka is pure concentrated evil down to her very core. 

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? 

It all started the week before I left camp for Thanksgiving break. I was in archery class with the Aphrodite cabin shooting arrows at the target. I thought I was doing pretty good—at least all the arrows were hitting the board— but Drew wasn't so impressed. 

"The goal is to hit the bull’s eye, _sweetie_." She put a sour twist to the word sweetie like it put a weird taste in her mouth. 

Drew wasn't a year-rounder like me. She, Lacy, and a few other campers went to this prestigious school in Brookline, so I never met her before that day. I knew instantly that she wasn’t a person I was going to buddy-buddy with. 

I glowered at her, but otherwise ignored her. I had other things on my mind and wasn't about to let some vapid popular girl bother me. At the time, I was thinking of Hayden almost non-stop, and that day was a particularly hard one for me. I didn’t get a wink of sleep the night before because, well, I was crying. 

Drew was persistent. “Maybe you could see the target better if your seaweed hair wasn't in your face, hon.” 

That’s when I snapped at her. "I'm not your _hon_ , and I'm not definitely your _sweetie_. How bout keeping your nose in your own friggin’ business, kay?" 

She scoffed and mumbled something about me to her friends. They giggled like idiots. 

Archery practice went on normally, everybody lining up, waiting for their turn. It reminded me of PE when we had to line up and kick the soccer ball into the net. 

Will assigned Drew to change the target boards. I was up next. I limply held my bow, notching the arrow, but not taking aim when my fingers slipped. The arrow ricocheted off of the marble floor, soaring straight at Drew. 

My eyes went round. "Drew!" 

She wasn’t fast enough. She was able to avoid getting hit but the arrow, but her jeans weren’t so lucky. My arrow had pierced through her pants at the rear and hit the bull’s eye of the target board. 

There was a loud gasp that came from the class, followed by laughter. 

I rushed to pull the arrow out of her pants. "I’m so sorry. I didn't mean to—" 

Drew glared at me so fierce that I was stunned into silence. “ _‘Didn’t mean to?!’_ You _tried_ to hit me!” She pulled the arrow out of her jeans and through it down angrily at the floor. “You ruined my favorite pair of jeans." 

She was tall enough to loom over me, but I didn’t balk. "I did not! It was just a freak accident." 

"You’re the freak, _sweetie_. You don't know who you're messing with." 

One of the Aphrodite girls, a blonde hair in pigtails, stepped forward. "It was an accident, Drew. She wasn't even looking—" 

Drew shot her a poisonous glare. The girl shrank back and shut her mouth. 

"Stay out of this, _Lacy_.” Drew turned her attention back towards me. “You are _so_ going to regret this. I swear." 

Will came up and stood between the two of us. “Come on, Drew. That’s enough. Kai already apologized. It’s over.” 

Drew looked at me, and I knew that it wasn’t over. I dealt with girls like Drew before. They were stuck up snobs who thought they were so much better than everyone else. I didn't take them seriously. 

But Drew was different. Her dark eyes sparkled with malice and intelligence—a dangerous combination. 

The next few days, nothing happened. I didn't see much of Drew or her clique. I figured she must've forgotten about the incident. 

The day before I was about to leave camp for Thanksgiving, I was showering up right before dinner. Or rather, I was in the line to get into the shower (I never understood why girl bathroom lines were so long). 

After I was done, I stood at sink in a towel drying off my hair. There were a few other girls in there, but I didn't mind. I used to shower all the time with the other girls at school. You get used to it after a few years. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Drew and her friends come in, giggling and gossiping away. I held my breath, hoping that they wouldn't notice me. 

_Don't look this way,_ I pleaded. _Don't look this way, don’t look this way, don't look—_

"Oh, Kaia, dear." 

_Dam._

I sighed, slumping my shoulders as I turned around. 

Drew and her crew slinked their way towards me, fake smiles plastered on their perfectly made-up faces. They sneered at the other girls, prompting them to leave hastily out of the bathroom, but I wasn’t about to be intimidated so easily. 

"Kaia, dear," Drew sing-songed, her voice sugary sweet. "How are you?" 

I blinked. "Uh, okay, I guess." 

A giggle from the peanut gallery. 

"That's great," she said. "I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day. It was… very unbecoming of me.” 

An apology? Definitely not what I was expecting. 

"It's cool," I said. "I'm sorry about hitting with that arrow. Honestly, I couldn’t have done that if I tried. ” 

Her smile caught me off guard. It was twisted and a bit cruel. I blinked, but the grin disappeared. 

"No harm done." Drew folded her arms. "I just wanted to make it up to you." 

I frowned, a bit skeptical. "Really?" "Of course. How's about a little makeover?" 

I laughed. "Uh, thanks, but no thanks. Makeup isn't really my thing, y’know?" 

"Nonsense. Everyone could use a bit of improvement. And believe me," she looked me up and down distastefully, "you need it." 

Her friends laughed at me again. I blushed, feeling completely embarrassed. I was suddenly self-conscious of myself in nothing but an orange bath towel. Maybe Drew was right. I needed this. 

"Well," I said, my voice sounding a mile away, "I guess a little makeup can't hurt." 

She smiled. "Then let's get to business." 

I sat painfully still as Drew painted my face. I’ve never been completely comfortable in makeup. The only cosmetic thing I owned was Skittles flavored lip balm. The only time I’ve ever worn makeup was at weddings, or if I lost a bet to Alana (which was only once…okay, twice). 

Drew had a really focused look on her face, like she was painting her _magnum opus_ instead of smearing pink goop on my face. Every time I tried to see my face in the mirror she stopped me, saying that she wanted me to wait until she was completely finished. 

"Oh, Styxx!" Drew groaned. "I ran out of mascara." 

"That's okay, Drew," I said. "I don't really need it." 

"No. I need it. It'll really make your eyes pop. Darn… Kaia?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Run out real quick and get the mascara on my vanity mirror in the Aphrodite cabin. It's in a small pink pouch." 

I nodded and smiled. Suddenly, doing what Drew wanted was my top priority. "Not a problem, Drew." 

She smiled. “Good girl.” 

You're probably thinking: "Aren't you in a bath towel? Don't go outside, you moron!" It's true, but in the moment my thoughts were cloudy. All I wanted to do was what Drew asked. Getting the mascara would make Drew happy, so of course I had to do it. 

I strolled across the green without a care in the world; not paying any attention to the campers I passed who pointed and stared at me. I was standing in front on the Aphrodite cabin as my thoughts slowly got together and I realized what was going on. 

I was naked in a bath towel and I’d just walked around camp as if it were no big deal. My body froze up as I turned to see campers standing around, gawking and laughing at me, the idiot in the bath towel. 

My entire face was burning with embarrassment. And if that wasn’t bad enough, all of a sudden, a wave of something cold and slimy hit me like a ton of wet blankets. Seaweed. I was in a bath towel and covered in seaweed. 

I shrieked, and nearly let my towel slip. Looking up, I noticed the Stoll brothers on roof of the cabin with an empty bucket. I made I mental note: as soon as I could, I’d get my hands around their scrawny little throats. 

The roar of laughter behind me fueled my burning cheeks. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die there, my body never to be found. 

Suddenly I was grabbed by the arm and pulled into the Aphrodite cabin by the blonde girl from the other day. I was too stunned and angry to react. 

“Oh, this is horrible!” she exclaimed. 

I didn’t get the chance take in the pastel atrocity around me before Lacy rubbed something soft and spongy on my cheeks. 

“This is no good,” she muttered. “It’s cursed.” 

“What is?” I moaned. “My life?” 

“No. The makeup.” 

Lacy rushed to a bunk, presumably hers, and dug through a chest. 

I glanced around the room, catching a glimpse of myself in someone’s mirror. I yelped. 

Lacy jumped. “What’s wrong?” 

“I-I…” 

My make up looked like it was done by a hooker with cataracts. The purple eye shadow was too bright and went all the way to my eyebrows and _under_ my eyes. My lipstick was gaudy Barbie doll pink which matched the blush on my cheeks. Drew made my eyebrows look as if I was permanently angry… no, wait. I _was_ angry. 

Lacy grimaced. “It should wear off… in a few hours.” 

I let out a string of profanity as I brushed all of the seaweed to the floor. “I’m gonna kill Drew. Which bed is hers? I’ll get the Ares kids to fart on her pillow.” 

“Well, before you do at least put these on.” Lacy handed me a camp shirt and a pair of jeans. “I think these should fit you.” 

“Thanks,” I said, and changed into them. The pants were a bit snug, but that was better than no clothes at all. 

I looked around the perfectly made up beds and noticed that each one had a chest at the foot with names on them. My Bad Idea light bulb went off again. Scooping up the seaweed, I search for Drew’s bed. 

Lacy gave me a strange look. “What are you…?” 

There it was. Drew’s bed was made up all neat and proper, the area smelling of cinnamon and nutmeg. 

I could fix that. 

I shoved all of the seaweed under Drew’s bed, right below her pillow. She wouldn’t get any sleep that night with the mysterious scent of rancid brine keeping her awake. 

A poster of Tristan Mclean from the movie _King of Sparta_ looked at me with approval. 

Lacy tried to cover up her laugh with her hands, but failed. “Gods, Kaia.  That is _so_ wrong!” 

I smirked. “Hey, what’s fair is fair.” 

“I’m just sorry about Drew,” she said, sitting down on her bed. “She can be pretty manipulating.” 

I heaved a great big sigh and joined her. “I feel really dumb, y’know? I can’t believe I fell for this.” 

“Don’t feel too bad, Kaia. It was the charmspeak.” 

“The what?” 

“It’s like hypnosis,” Lacy explained. “Some children of Aphrodite have the ability. Drew’s always doing something like this. Once she convinced me to dye my hair… _black_.” 

I frowned at her. “So what?” 

“My skin is pale! With black hair I look so… _emo_.” 

Her story was so ridiculous to me, I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I’m never going to go outside again,” I said with finality. 

“It wasn’t so bad,” Lacy said. Even she didn’t buy that. 

I raised an eyebrow at her. “It was coming-of-age-movie-from-the-nineties bad. I’m the plucky heroine, you’re my sidekick, and Drew is an Asian variant on the one-dimensional alpha bitch bully.” 

She gave me a look. “You sound like you watch a lot of television.” 

I laughed again, and this time Lacy joined in. 

Just as I was starting to feel better, Drew and her followers walked in, snickering uncontrollably. 

“That was amazing Drew!” one cried. 

“We should’ve taken pictures!” said another. 

I felt my blood boil. I leapt to my feet, glaring at Drew. “You are such a mother fu—” 

“Oh, calm down,” Drew said dismissively. “I could’ve done a lot worse, believe me. You should thank me. That look was actually an improvement.” 

I lunged at Drew with my fist, but was held back by her goons. 

“Don’t move around so much,” Drew taunted. “You’re prone to sweating, and you wouldn’t want to ruin your makeup, now would you?” 

The anger that was rising in my gut finally exploded with a familiar painful tug. 

A current of water from the cabin’s toilet blasted the door off its hinges and barreled into me, Drew, and her friends. The water had no effect on me, but it knocked them to the floor, their perfect hair and make-up ruined. 

I thought to myself _How about a little more?_ A geyser of toilet water shot out faster than a speeding bullet. I willed the water to carry the girls out the front door, cursing and sputtering until they were sprawled into the mud. 

My head was spinning but I managed to stay standing. Lacy, meanwhile, had to pick her jaw up off of the floor. 

I walked outside to see that the audience had now doubled in size. Some were laughing, others were shaking their heads, but most were probably just wishing that we could have cell phones inside camp to record this and upload to the demigod equivalent of YouTube (DemiTube?). 

Drew shakily stood up, her wavy locks now flattened and grimy and her clothes filthy. 

“You,” she spat at me. “You little…UGH!” She stomped her foot in the mud in frustration. 

“Calm down, Drew,” I said mockingly. “Now we both look awful.” 

Needless to say, we both got into trouble. Mr. D turned us into shrubs and assigned us to stable cleaning duty after he turned us back. I got the added punishment of listening to Drew complain the whole time. 

So, yeah. Me and Drew are not friends. 

I couldn’t be too mad at the Stolls, though. Drew manipulated them with charmspeak, and although the Trolls—I mean Stolls—liked a good prank more than the next guy, even they weren’t _that_ cruel. 

Lacy and I became friends after that. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of my sister, Alana, just a bit sweeter and less condescending. I felt bad that she had to wear the shoes of shame for standing up to Drew for me. She was proof that not all Aphrodite kids were jerks. 

Drew and I were on better terms now; we mostly stuck to name-calling and giving each other dirty looks. I knew for a fact that Drew Tanaka was an ice queen. Lacy was wrong. There was no way on earth that Drew was ever nice. 

~*~ 

Dinner was excellent, but lonely without Percy. I never liked eating alone at camp, and with Percy missing, I felt a lot more isolated than normal. 

Then it was time for the camp fire. I sat next to Nyssa and her siblings. I embarrassed Nyssa with my horrible singing and joked around with the new camper, Leo. He seemed like a cool and funny guy, but I wondered whether or not he’d fit into cabin nine. They all were pretty down recently because of Jake Mason, the dragon, and the curse. I couldn’t help but think how sad it would be if Leo became jaded like the rest of them. 

After the sing along, Chiron came up and greeted the new arrivals. He asked the Hephaestus cabin about the dragon situation, and Nyssa announced that they were working on it “really hard.” This information did not bode well for the Ares cabin.  Chiron silenced the crowd by banging his hoof. 

Nyssa looked absolutely miserable. I tried cheering her up, but my words were cut short when a voice from the crowd said, “What about Percy?” 

I stiffen, my attention fixed towards Annabeth.  From my seat I could see the bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep. The sputtering fire cast shadows over her face that made her look almost eerie. She announced the news that Lacy already told me earlier. 

“Chiron’s talking about something different,” Annabeth said. “A new quest.” 

A girl’s voice called out, “It’s the Great Prophecy, isn’t it?” 

I rolled my eyes reflexively at the sound of Drew’s voice. Drew never really spoke up during the campfire, or during anything that wasn’t idle gossip, which was strange since she obviously loved being the center of attention. 

“What's the Great Prophecy?” I whispered to Nyssa. 

She gave me a look. “You never heard of the Great Prophecy?” 

I shrugged. “I'm always out of the loop until the last second.” 

Drew drew (unintentional pun is unintentional) the conclusion that the Great Prophecy was starting since Olympus shut down and all the weirdness since Percy disappeared until today. Though, if this _was_ some sort of epic prophecy, she didn’t really seem to care one way or another. 

Another thing to hate about Drew: She was way too smart for how much of a jerk she was. It wasn’t fair. 

Everyone was silent as all eyes were trained on a redheaded girl who sat in the front. She wore a green blouse instead of the usual camp shirt. Despite never seeing her before, I knew instantly who she was: Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The Oracle of Delphi. 

Rachel stepped forward and addressed the crowd calmly. “Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun.” 

And that’s when all Hades broke loose; dozen of voices speaking all at once, asking the same questions that everyone wanted to know. The mood of the camp caused the fire to change colors and height sporadically. This prophecy, whatever it was, was a huge deal; the prophecy to end all prophecies, and considering that the last one prediction the Second Titan War, well, this one wasn’t looking too bright. 

The talking subsided. Rachel took a step forward and started to recite the prophecy, until Jason jump up and started chanting in Latin like he was trying to exercise the whole camp of evil demons. 

I wasn't the only one stunned into silence. I didn’t know much Latin outside of Pig Latin and my family’s unofficial motto (then again, that was a joke by my uncle, Kristof), but it was clear that Jason either finished the prophecy in Latin, or he was crazy and just knew how to speak Latin. 

All eyes were on Jason as he tried to explain why he knew the prophecy to Rachel. 

Drew made a little comment that made her and her friends giggle. Even _I_ wasn't that stupid about boys. Okay, I was, but it was a different brand of stupid. I was diet stupid. 

Rachel went on about the Great Prophecy. “The seven Demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling that some are here tonight. Some are not here.” 

Campers started to look at each other nervously, with more eyes on me than I was comfortable with. As a daughter of Poseidon, I was a prime suspect to be a hero of a prophecy. My status as a child of the big three was always something I preferred to ignore. I wanted to be treated like an equal, not elevated just because of who my godly parent was. It always hurt when I couldn’t live up to expectation, even before I came to camp. People at my old school expected a lot from me because Alana was friggin’ perfect. At camp it was better, except when people expected me to be a good of sword fighter as Percy, or just as powerful as he was. 

Rachel continued to address the group, confirming my suspicion about the prophecy. The camp was silent. The bonfire changed from green to purple, feeding off of everyone’s nervous energy. 

Then, Rachel delivered this Wham Line: “Then queen of the gods has been taken.” 

A beat of silence before chaos broke. How could the super powerful queen of the gods be captured, and why? 

Rachel explained what happened to the three new Demigods before they were rescued by Annabeth and Butch (And I thought _my_ first run in with monsters was rough); the vision that Jason and the new girl, Piper, got from Hera herself. It was obvious that Jason was the one to lead the new quest. 

One Ares kid called out, “If he’s so important, than why hasn’t he been claimed yet?” 

Chiron said that he has been claimed and told Jason to give us a demonstration. 

Jason looked unsure at first, then he pulled out a coin from his pocket a flipped it. In midair it transformed into a golden spear. There were wave reviews from the Ares cabin. 

The Jason raised his spear. Thunder rumbled and lighting struck Jason’s lance and shot into the fire pit like an explosion.  The silence that followed felt louder. 

My mouth hung open as I stared at Jason, the hairs on my arms still standing straight up. Another child of the big three. No way... But here he was. 

A log from the fire pit had landed right by Clovis’s sleeping face. He didn’t budge an inch. Classic Clovis. 

The camp was once again sent into disarray, but was quieted just as quickly as Rachel prepared to give Jason his prophecy. 

Her eyes glowed with a green light, and another woman’s voice came out of her. I’d never seen the Oracle in action, so I was in no way prepared for how creepy and ominous her presence would be. I fought the urge to run and hide as the Oracle of Delphi channeled through Rachel and spoke the prophecy. 

When she was done, a few campers raced to catch her and sat her on a stool. Apparently we had drills for this type of thing. 

Everyone started to discuss the meaning of the prophecy and who would go on the quest with Jason. Annabeth declined, partially because of her hatred for Hera and because she planned on searching for Percy by herself tomorrow. I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy that Annabeth was going without me. 

Nyssa begrudgingly volunteered to go on the quest since _the forge_ meant Hephaestus. But then Leo volunteered, promising Jason that he could get them a ride that didn’t travel over land. How he planned on doing that was anyone’s guess. 

Piper insisted on going on the quest, but of course Drew had to belittle her and use charmspeak to convince everyone that _she_ should be the one who goes on the quest. As much as I hated to admit it, Drew’s charmspeak still had power over me. I felt myself agreeing with her. She should be the one to go on the quest. It made complete sense. _The dove_ meant Aphrodite, after all… 

Piper argued against that, and I started to agree with her. Yeah, that made more sense; she came to camp with Leo and Jason. She should go on the quest. 

Then, a pink aura appeared around Piper, and her clothes were changed to that of a Greek goddess’s, complete with perfect makeup an. She looked beautiful, but absolutely mortified. I could relate; I hated dresses, too. I only owned two and only wore them when I had to. 

The only thing more beautiful was Drew’s reaction. If she were a cartoon character, her face would be red and she’d have steam coming out of her ears. 

Everyone bowed respectfully towards the new girl, Piper McLean, as Chiron declared her to be a new daughter of Aphrodite. 

As everyone was fawning over Piper, I noticed Leo sneaking off to the woods. No one else seemed to notice him leaving. 

I frowned. _What on earth was he planning to do_

On an impulse, I decided to figure out what he was up to. I snuck away from the crowd to my cabin and grabbed a flash light before heading off into the woods to follow him. 

~*~ 

One of the first things you learn at camp is not to go into the woods alone. I'm pretty sure that went double for at night. 

I trekked along silently, alert for any noise that might have been Leo, a monster, or a metal dragon. I could hear monsters growl and crawl along the forest floor, ruffling fallen leafs as they moved. Every once in a while a dryad would reposition her tree somewhere else in the forest. 

I've played Captured the Flag dozens of times, and even gone to slay monsters with friends on a couple of occasions. I thought I knew the forest well, but I wasn't even close. The forest was alive, always changing, always moving. 

Wow, that’s unsettling. 

Even normal things, like owls, freaked me out with their glowing yellow eyes. I wouldn't have been surprise if Michael Myers or Jason—the horror movie Jason, not the new guy—leapt out of the shadows and stabbed me in the face (I’d live, of course. The virgin always does). 

I drew my sword, the celestial bronze casted a faint glow in front of me. I remembered the last time I used it in serious combat; the blood red glow of the sea glass; the joy I felt when fighting. I hadn’t thought much about that since it happened; the memory was still a little fuzzy. I wondered if the sword was cursed and that was why Annabeth was apprehensive about me having it. Then again, if it was cursed, wouldn’t someone have already destroyed it or at least locked it away somewhere? 

My sword was my protection. I know it sounds silly, but I felt as I was connected to it and was meant to have it. No other weapon would do. But could I still trust it? Or better yet, could I trust myself with it? Would I get out of control and start attacking anyone and everybody? 

_Nah,_ I thought. I would never do that. That wasn’t the kind of person I was. As long as I kept everything under control, I would be okay. 

I walked deeper and deeper into the woods, feeling as if I were being watched the entire time. 

The sound of two cars slamming into each other made me jump and my ears ring. On instinct, I headed towards the direction of the sound. The smell of motor oil and tobacco sauce grew stronger. A light flickered in the trees ahead of me. I dashed toward it, not prepared for what I was about to see. 

The metal dragon was finally caught, trapped inside the golden net. It wiggled and squirmed, trying to get free. 

I gaped. “What—” 

Then a figured came into view, struggling to climb over the thrashing dragon. It was Leo. He managed to get to the dragon’s head when he finally spotted me. I stared back at him. 

We made eye contact long enough for it the Awkwardness Meter to short circuit and explode. 

"Hi," I finally said. 

Leo looked at me like I was off my rocker. " _Hi_?" 

I ignored the tone in his voice and continued to gawk at the scene before me. “So… this was your plan? The haywire dragon?" 

"Well,” he sighed. “I planned on fixing it.” 

"But it doesn't have any wings." 

“I know that now.” 

“You have a backup plan?” 

“I'm working on it? 

“So the answer's no?” 

"What am I, on trial here?” Leo complained. “Why were you following me, anyway?  You have a crush on me or something?” 

“No,” I said. “I mean yes, but not about the crush thing. I just wanted to know what you had planned.” “

Why?” 

I sighed, sitting down next to the motor oil pit. “Percy is my brother and I want to find him, but Chiron says I have to go home for the holidays. I didn't have much of a plan either, outside of following you. I can't help you build wings for a dragon and I don’t know what to do…” 

My voice quivered a bit at the end. The vapors from the pit were starting to bug my eyes. 

Leo was quiet for a while before sighing. “Well, how about helping out by shining that flashlight over this way? I need to find his control panel.” 

I smiled appreciatively and shined the light in his direction.  He went back to searching in silence. 

Every once in a while there would be a noise in the wood—a drakon slithering on the forest floor, insomniac dryads, etcetera. But nothing bothered us. The silence was becoming unbearable, so I decide to break it. 

“How you liking camp so far?” I asked Leo. 

“Seems awesome,” he said. “Dangerous training, cute girls. But I wasn't too excited to being called a Vulcan, though.” 

“Well, you do kinda have the ears for it,” I joked. 

“That was harsh,” he said, although there was a lightness in his voice. “I barely know you.” 

“Hey, it was a complement. I had a crush on Spock when I was six years.” 

I blinked, not sure why I admitted that to him. Only my friends knew I was a closet geek. 

Leo choked back a laugh. “Wow. That is _super_ geeky.” 

“So I like sci-fi flicks,” I shrugged. “Sue me.” 

“Any other weird crushes I should know about before you start to worry me?” 

I was silent for a moment. “Santa Clause, but that’s neither here nor there. Did you find whatever you were looking for yet?” 

“Actually… yes!” 

He cracked open the dragon’s head and started to examine it. Leo went on to explain what was wrong, but I didn’t follow his techno babble. Bottom line, the dragon’s brain was rusty, which I kinda thought was obvious. 

Leo pulled out something round and flat from the dragon’s head and the dragon stopped moving, its eyes dimming. 

“Did you just kill it?” I asked. 

“What? No.” Leo slid off of the dragon’s back. “I’m just cleaning his disk. It would be better if I knew how to make a new one, but I don’t have time. Besides, I don’t want to risk keeping his disk out forever.” 

Leo used to motor oil and tobacco concoction to clean the grime off the disk. 

“Percy found it, y’know?” I said. 

“Huh?” 

“My brother and yours, actually, found the dragon in the woods during a game Capture the Flag. It’s a long story involving giant ants that spray acid.” 

“Capture the Flag, huh?” Leo said. “I’m guessing you’re all allowed to use sharp pointy weapons to play that totally safe game.” 

“Mmm-hmm. Now that you found the dragon, we can start playing again.” 

“Sounds like fun,” he said drily. 

“You’ll love it,” I insisted. “Hey, after your quest, how bout I join the Hephaestus team. I’m usually on recon or sabotage if I’m not the distraction. I’ll make sure the kids from the Ares, Enyo, and Nike cabins don’t skewer you alive. The three of them on one team is a dangerous threesome.” 

“A dangerous threesome?” he repeated. “I can’t wait.” 

Leo placed the disk back into the dragon’s head, fiddled with the wires, and the dragon sparked back to life. It whirled its drill like teeth, flashing the world’s most painful pair of fangs. 

“Hold on,” Leo said to the dragon the way some one might speak to a dog. “I’m going to free you.” 

I helped him find release clamps and untangle the dragon out of the net. When we were done, it stood and shot fire into the sky. Out of habit, I stepped back and drew my sword. But, thankfully, the dragon didn’t attack us. 

“There’s pillar of fire in the sky like we shot off a flare?” I muttered. “The harpies will never find us now.” 

Leo, however, looked up undaunted at the dragon. “Could you not show off?” 

The dragon let out a long _creeeaaak_ like it was trying to say something. 

“He needs a name,” Leo said. “I’m naming him Festus” 

“Festus,” I repeated. “Sounds like Festivus.” 

Leo looked at me as if I mutated. “What the heck is _Festivus_?” 

“I’ll explain later.” 

“That’s good and all, but we still have a problem.” He turned back to Festus, “You don’t have any wings.” 

The dragon—Festus—kneeled down in a familiar stance I’ve seen with many Pegasi. He wanted us to get on. 

Leo excitedly climbed onto Festus’s back. I followed suit, hoisting myself onto the dragon with the help of Leo. I barely had time to wrap my arms around Leo’s waist before the dragon took off at top speed, taking us deeper into the woods.


	5. I Get Hand-Me-Downs for Christmas

I was exhausted by the time I snuck back into my cabin. Maybe an hour of sleep went by before I was jump started out of bed by the camp’s alarm system. 

And I do mean out of bed. I fell out of the top bunk and hit the floor. It was a miracle I didn’t break my neck. 

I jumped to my feet—rubbing the crook in my neck—hastily grabbed my sword, threw on my armor, and rushed outside to see what the emergency was. 

Other campers were running out of their cabins, weapons in their hands. Will and his siblings already had their bows drawn. Most campers, like me, wore their armor over their pajamas and didn’t brush their hair. Satyrs where screaming and running away in a panic from whatever the danger was. The danger in question was partially disappointing. 

It was Leo on Festus, circling over the heads of the campers before landing down onto the green. The dragon’s bronze and copper scales reflected the blinding light of the sun. Leo tried to explain himself while the campers stood in a semicircle around him, ready to attack. All I could think was _wow, that kid sure knew how to make an entrance._

Eventually, Leo, Jason, and Piper boarded Festus and took off. I hoped that they were successful on their quest, for more than just the fact that if they fail, they’ll probably die and some giant will get their revenge. Jason seemed experienced, even though he had amnesia. Piper didn’t seem as fragile as some other Aphrodite kids did, but she didn’t have much training. Neither did Leo, but he was quick (or lucky) enough to dodge the dragon’s attack, plus he was resourceful. I had the feeling they could do it. 

After that bit of excitement, Lou Ellen walked up to me, her sword in hand and her pig-pattern PJs on under her armor. Her hair was a bird’s nest and there was a wild look in her green eyes. 

“What was—I mean—how—” 

“Complete sentences, Lou,” I said. I wrapped my arm over her shoulder. “Come on. You need Froot Loops.” 

We both headed off to the dining pavilion without changing. I was still in my bronze armor with my black tank top on underneath and bottoms that were spotted with the Star Wars logo. Normally, I would’ve been embarrassed to be out and about in Star Wars paraphernalia, but after being outside dolled up like a lady of the night and naked in a bath towel, nothing could ever be as bad, not even if I was wearing My Little Pony pajamas. 

Drew and her cabin passed by the two of us on the way to breakfast. She looked me up and down and smirked. 

“Nice PJs,” she said. 

“Nice mustache,” I retorted. I swung my sword over my shoulder and strolled over to the Poseidon table. 

~*~ 

After breakfast, I saw Annabeth off and wished her luck on her quest. Her eyes were cold and determined. She promised to keep me updated on her search and news at camp if she could. 

For the rest of the day, the stunt Leo pulled was the talk of the town (err, camp). I bit my tongue whenever someone wondered how the new kid was able to tame the malfunctioning dragon and how he found metal wings to put on it to begin with. 

My head was still spinning from last night’s adventure. 

Festus led us to a limestone cliff, seemingly for no reason. Then, Leo placed his hand on the wall of rock. His hand smoked and five lines of fire spread from his fingertips. A glowing red door easily forty feet tall appeared and swung open silently. 

My jaw dropped. I looked back and forth between him and the door. 

Leo looked at me strangely. “You’ll get bugs in your mouth that way.” 

I pointed at the cliff. “H-how did you know it could do that?!” 

“I didn’t. I guess it’s heat sensitive.” 

But there was something in the tone of his voice that made me think that he wasn’t being completely honest. 

Before I could ask any questions, Festus barged right past and into the cave. 

“Right,” I said. “After him, I guess.” 

The two of us followed, the limestone wall closing behind us on its own. That couldn’t have been a good sign. 

This cavern was beyond massive. There were more worktables than I could count covered in loads weapons and a bunch of half finished of machinery that I couldn't name. Catwalks ran across high ceiling. Blueprints for various complicated machines were hung everywhere. This room was an inventor’s dream. 

Festus walked into the center of the room and laid on a platform. Above him was an old, worn banner that read _Bunker 9_ in Ancient Greek. 

“Does that mean nine as in the Hephaestus cabin or as in there eight others?” Leo wondered aloud. 

“Not a clue,” I said. 

“Any idea what this place is?” 

I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of this place.” I swiped my finger across a table, cutting a line through the dust. “It looks abandoned.” 

On a bulletin board, Leo found an old faded battle map from the Civil War, as well as the blueprints for a Greek trireme with a dragon figure head that looked suspiciously like Festus. 

“That’s creepy,” he mumbled under his breath. 

I stared at the blueprint, but couldn’t make any sense out of it. “Festus was built in the days before the camp had magical borders,” I said. “He was the old guardian, but I didn't think he was _that_ old. 

Leo didn't seem convinced. He looked as if he were shifting through ideas over and over again in his mind. 

Through some mime work from Festus, Leo found a pair of wings hanging from the ceiling. I started to search for a ladder, but the wings looked too heavy for either of us to carry. We hunted through the Bunker for probably a half hour before we found some sort of pulley machine that was able to lower the metal wings down easily. 

Leo went to work attaching the wings right away. I helped as much as I could; mostly following his directions. When Leo focused on the harder parts, I went off exploring deeper into the bunker, careful not to stray too far away from him. 

The cave was eerily silent except for the buzzing and whirling of Leo’s tools, and the soft echo of my footsteps. 

I wondered how big the bunker was. If the Hephaestus cabin built it, then there was a good chance that it could go on forever. I’ve been in cabin nine before and it was a lot more tricked out than the Poseidon cabin, probably because it was planned to house a lot more campers. 

I passed a storage closet just as dull _thump-thump-thump_ came from behind the door. After debating with myself whether or not to open the door, morbid curiosity got the better of me. I jiggled the knob and pried open the door. 

A little three-legged table hobbled out and immediately tipped over onto its round, flat top. 

I stared at it as it jerked its legs desperately, trying to turn over and get back onto his legs. It reminded me kinda of a turtle on its back; cute in how pathetic it was in a really weird sort of way. 

“Okay,” I said, “enough of this bit.” 

I flipped the little table over and it thanked me by walking straight into me and ramming me in the hip. 

“Hey!” I protested. 

It then tried to run away, but it swayed and wobbled like it was dizzy, bumping into walls and staggering. He—I decided it was a boy table—was either broken or a dunk. 

Sorry. Stupid thought was stupid. 

“C’mon,” I held onto the tabletop and led him back to where Leo was. “Civilization is this-a-way.” 

Leo was nearly finished attaching one of the wings when I got back with the table. “Hey, Leo. Look what I found—yikes!” 

Leo was covered in oil and soot. His army jacket was grimy and his curly was greasy and stuck out at weird angles. 

“What happened to you?” I asked him. 

“Huh?” he looked down and seemed to notice the state he was in for the first time. “Oh. You probably didn’t notice when we were outside in the dar—is that table alive?” 

Gotta love that ADHD. 

As if on cue, the table started to spaz again and do the crazy legs. He wiggled himself out of my grasp, ran over to a wall, and crashed into it repeatedly before going still and falling over dead. 

“Uh…” Leo said. “What was that about?” 

“It’s automaton table,” I explained. “Kinda like the ones Hephaestus has. They hold his tools and important parts and junk. Only his are larger since the gods are apparently giants, and,” a sideways glance to the dead table, “his actually work.” 

“Like a little helper, huh?” Leo said, clearly interested. “That’s awesome. I got to fix him up after this quest.” 

Leo worked like machine. He could work on attaching wings to Festus while cracking jokes and telling funny stories (Taco Claus needs to be a thing. Let’s make it happen, people). I never thought that someone could multitask that well, even a demigod. We were _made_ to multitask, and Leo took that up to eleven. 

Again, gotta love that ADHD. 

Before I left, I promised Leo on the river Styxx that I wouldn’t tell anyone about Bunker Nine and wished him luck on his quest. I liked Leo; he was funny and a mechanical genius, but it was obvious that he was hiding something.  But I wasn’t about to pry into a potentially sensitive topic. 

~*~ 

Argus drove me and a few other kids to Grand Central Station. I looked out the window as buildings and people blurred past us. The snow fell gently outside. I’d almost forgotten that it was winter in the mortal world. 

This was my first Christmas since Hayden died. Out of habit, I almost bought her a gift from the camp store when I was doing my Christmas shopping (P.S. the Stolls will rob a Wal-Mart and sell you the items on the camp’s black market. Do with that information what you will. I, for one, didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth). 

Usually, I'd get Hayden something small and un-Christmas-sy, like a metal CD or dark makeup or something. One year I bought her these knee high skull-and-cross bones socks and a shirt with the same design. She wore them religiously every year. They were probably with the rest of her clothes that were still in the Thetis cabin. I didn't have the courage to back in there. 

Hayden was in Elysium now, celebrating the holidays with her father for the first time in years. I was happy for her, really, but I still missed her. My heart ached wherever I thought about her. 

I still had all of her pictures in my room. Sooner or later, I had to go through all of them. I owed that to her. 

Thinking of Hayden made me think about Thetis and the promise I made not to tell anyone about the Roman gods. I wondered if that had anything to do with Percy’s disappearance, or the quest that Leo went on. If it did, I couldn’t find any connection. Maybe it was a coincidence. 

_A_ coincidence? _You’re joking, right?_

Okay, maybe that was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t draw any conclusions to connect the two events. 

Would Nico know what was going on? Probably not; we both knew the exact same thing. Besides, I swore on the Styx not to tell anyone about the Roman gods. Would admitting that I knew still count as going against the oath? I’m not risking breaking any oaths. 

Not having any answers was giving me a headache. I tried not to let it bother me. Everything was gonna make sense eventually, right? It had to. Right? 

I tried to push all of my thoughts aside. It was Christmas after all. I was gonna enjoy it. 

I bought my ticket for the subway. No monsters bothered me as I road to the Upper East Side. 

~*~ 

So you've gotten to know me pretty well by now. I guess I should introduce you to my family. 

You already know my parents, David and Lanakila, my sister Alana, and my baby brother, Max. 

My grandparents on my dad's side were Walter and Josephine Fischer. My cousins and I call them Gramps and Nana. The two of them met during the Vietnam War after the helicopter Grandpa was in went down and he lost his left leg in the crash. Nana was a nurse. Both of their parents were German immigrants. 

My grandmother was half Jewish, so sometimes she would insist that we should celebrate Chanukah as well as Christmas. This was not one of those times. 

Gramps started his company after he was honorably discharged. When I was little I thought that he was a cyborg because of his prosthetic leg. I used to wanted a leg like Gramps, but he would always tell me that losing a leg isn’t as cool as he made it look. 

My dad had two siblings. There was my uncle Kristof who lived in Boston and was a standup comedian. He was named after Nana's brother who died in Vietnam. Uncle didn't have any children, but usually had a different girlfriend every time I saw him. 

There was a summer that Alana and I spent with him where all we did was watch everything is his sci-fi collection. Alana came out unscathed, but I will forever spend life worrying that other kids will pick on me if I made a reference to Star Trek that was something other than the Vulcan salute. 

On the other hand, my aunt Julia was married to a really awesome woman named Lisa. They adopted my cousins Mae, from China; Giovanni, from Guatemala; and Dina, from Russia. Mae was a year older than me and Alana. She liked to read and was quiet compare to little Dina who was four and rambunctious and outgoing. Giovanni, who was ten, met somewhere in between the two of them. Aunt Julia was a police officer in Yonkers (yes. That is a real place) and Aunt Lisa was an English teacher. 

(Good luck remembering all that. There’ll be a quiz later). 

My family was fairly religious, but I was never all that into it, which helped when I had to accept the fact that there were Greek gods running around and messing with the mortal world. Although, that comic I saw where Jesus beats up the gods and was about to square off with Zeus a _lot_ weirder in hindsight… 

This year, my whole family decided to come over to my house for Christmas.  I spent the days with my family, playing board games, watching Christmas specials, baking cookies, and wrapping presents. We went fishing, shopping, and ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Not once was I attacked by a monster. It felt like I was a normal kid again, before I was introduced to the world of Greek mythology, and I didn't have to worry about monsters coming after me or the people I care about going missing...or dying. 

The night of the Winter Solstice, the deadline for Jason’s quest, rolled around, and I was wide awake, staring up and the ceiling. My stomach churned in worry, I didn’t even know if the three of them where alive or not, or if Annabeth was okay. I needed answers. 

When it was cleared that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night, I climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen. 

When I saw Alana already there raiding the fridge, I wasn’t too surprised. 

"You, too?" I asked her. 

Alana jumped two feet in the air shrieked. 

I smiled. “Great, wake up everyone in the house, why don’tcha?” 

She glared at me. “You scared me! Since when where you little Miss Lightfoot?” 

“Since September.” 

Alana waved away my answer. "Whatever. I just came down here for more of Nana's ginger bread cookies. What about you?” 

“What do you think?” 

She looked at me and grinned. “Snack time?” 

I nodded. “Snack time.” 

We gathered up the rest of Nana’s cookies and a couple of other goodies and headed to Alana's room, since she had a bigger bed. 

Snack time was sorta a tradition for us. If we were both up at the same time during the night, we'd get some snacks and hang out while watching TV. I once joked that it was our weird twin thing, but Madame Buzzkillington had to point out that we were fraternal so that didn’t make sense. Just ignore her. 

Alana’s dog, Buttercup, was curled up in a ball on top of one of the pillow. I dump the junk food in the middle of the fuchsia sheets and started flipping through TV channels. After arguing over whether we should watch an R-rated comedy or a Christmas-themed romcom (gag), we finally settled on _the Golden Girls._

“I see that you eat as much junk food as ever,” Alana chastised after I wolfed down three hohos and a Dr. Pepper. “You’re going to die if you keep that up.” 

“Trust me,” I said impassively, “when I die, it won't be junk food that kills me.” 

“I was trying to be serious.” 

“So was I. Hey, which one do you think I'm most like? Dorothy or Rose?" 

“I think you're more like Blanche," Alana smirked. 

I threw popcorn at her. "Oh, how I missed your constant belittling. You must miss doing that every day." 

Alana frowned and turned her attention to the bowl of popcorn. "I don't _belittle_ you, Kaia." 

"But you miss me,” I teased, poking her in the thigh with a twizzler. “Admit it. You miss this face." 

"I miss you like I miss having the chickenpox." 

I put my hand to my heart and feigned being hurt. "Jeez, this show is making you snarky." 

Alana sighed. "You know I do, Kaia. Everyone does. We've spent almost every day together since we were born. It's weird without you, as annoying as you are." 

"I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult." 

"Don't ruin this moment." 

I stuck my tongue out at her and took a swig of Dr. Pepper. Ah, Mother Nature’s perfect drink. 

It was quiet for a while except for the sound of my munching and our laughter at the show. It took my mind off of prophecies and quests and possible death. 

“Kaia?” Alana said tentatively. 

“Hmmm?” 

“I… I like Axel and I think he likes me back. I want to ask him out.” 

She looked at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to do a flip. 

I popped a piece of popcorn in my mouth. “That's awesome, Lana. Go for it.” 

She looked at me wide eyed as if I'd just grown a second head. 

I frowned at her. “What?” 

“That's all you have to say?” 

“Oh, I, uh, hope it works out and you two… bear lots of offspring?” 

“Kaia!” Alana cried. “That’s not what I meant. I know you have a crush on Axel.” 

I almost gagged on my popcorn. "What do you mean _you know_?" 

"Everyone knew. Well, except for Axel. It was _so_ obvious." 

I shook my head. "That’s embarrassing. Why are you telling me this?” 

“I already told you. I want to ask him out. It’s just… Do you still have a crush on him, Kaia? I won’t date him if you still do.” 

Silently, I looked at Alana. Her face displayed a range of emotions: embarrassment, concern, nervousness, and a little bit of hope. I was completely at a loss for words. 

My whole life I’ve been jealous of my sister. She was prettier than me, smarter than me, and all-around better than me. Alana was _perfect_. She had others worshipping the ground she walked on. She was my annoying twin sister who was a perfectionist and thought she was better than everybody else. I wasn’t just jealous. I resented her. 

A few months ago I would’ve been pissed. Of course she _had_ to have the guy I liked and _of course_ he liked her instead of me. That was the story of my life. 

Instead, I finally saw who my sister was. Sure she could be a control freak, but she was caring underneath it all. She could be funny when she wasn’t being uptight. For the first time, I saw her as _normal_. She was worried about school and boys, and I was kept awake worrying where Percy was and whether or not the world was heading towards Armageddon. 

Now, I envied her for her normality, not her perfection. The only difference now was that I didn’t resent her for it. 

I broke a gingerbread man in half. “I don’t still like him, Lana.” 

“Are you absolutely sure?” Alana asked carefully. 

“What do you want, my blessing? All I hope is that he treats you right. I gotta watch out for my little sister.” 

She folded her arms. “I'm a whole day older than you.” 

“Yeah, but I'm taller.” 

“By an inch.” 

I pointed my cookie at her and winked. “That's all it takes. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be Dad that'll get in the way of your love life way more than I will. Trust me.” 

She fell backwards on her bed and groaned, her hands over her face. Buttercup was awoken by the sudden movement and looked pretty annoyed, or at least as annoyed as a ball of fluff could look. 

“I forgot,” Alana groaned. “I have to tell Mom and Dad!” 

I snickered. “That means we all get to watch Dad freak out about his little girl dating for Christmas. Can’t wait to see that.” 

“Don’t worry, Kaia. In about twenty years you’ll go through the same thing, too.” 

I nudged her in the thigh and grabbed the remote. “This show’s snark is rubbing off on you. I’m changing it to Adult Swim.” 

She shot up and snatched the remote back. “Not until we find out which Elvis impersonator is Quentin Territino.” 

We went back to watching Sofia’s wedding just as I caught the air shimmering in rainbow colors in the corner if my eye. 

I almost spewed my soda. 

“You know what?" I said, jumping out of the bed and running towards the door. "I gotta bathroom now." 

I rounded the corner of the hallway, ran into the bathroom, and shut the door behind me. Thankfully, the Iris Message followed me. The image began to solidify, and I was able to make who the caller was. 

“Annabeth!” I whispered-yelled. I was shocked to see her, but mostly relieved. She looked like she was mostly intact. “Is everything okay?” 

She sighed. “I’ve got some news for you.” 

~*~ 

Christmas came and it was great. My family liked the presents I got them: jewelry made of Pegasus feathers, a tie spotted with little satyrs, a Dr. Who wall clock, and stuff like that. 

I felt at ease knowing that the quest was successful and no giants were laying waste to the world (at least not yet). Annabeth told me that she would tell me the full story when I got been to camp and to enjoy my Christmas break. I hoped she was doing the same, but doubted it. If my boyfriend went missing right before Christmas, I’d be a regular Scrooge. 

I got a lot of awesome presents, too. Clothes, a Nintendo DSi, a Polaroid camera, and a ton a film for it. Oh, was I gonna have fun with this baby. 

Mom cooked another feast and I ate myself into a delicious food coma. I got the first dreamless sleep that I had in months. 

I was awakened by a tapping sound. I opened my weary eyes, but didn’t see anything in my room except the pale moon light that seeped through the cracks of my blinds. 

I was about to fall back asleep when the tapping noise happened again. It sounded suspiciously like a hoof. 

Should I ignore that? 

_YES. Sleep now_. 

But what if it’s Santa? 

_Santa isn’t real, dummy_. 

But the Greek gods are? That was the injustice of the world I live in. I guess it could be worse. There could be other groups of ancient gods running amuck in the world. That would probably be a disaster of epic proportions 

I moaned and rolled out of bed. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I peeked behind my blinds. 

At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. How did a jet black horse climb all the way to the third story without using stairs? 

But it wasn’t just any regular horse. It was Blackjack the Pegasus. Percy’s Pegasus. 

_Yo, boss lady. Open up!_

“Blackjack! I cried. I opened the window as far as I dared to as to not set off the alarm. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” 

_Percy told me your address,_ he said. 

That checked out. Percy and I exchanged addresses in cases of emergencies. 

“Is it about Percy? Did he send you here?” 

_No. It's something else. Some little sea critter needs your help._

“At,” I looked at my digital clock, “6:18 in the morning? My parents are gonna be up in an hour. If I am gone, they will murder me!” 

_It won't take that long, boss lady,_ Blackjack insisted. _I promise._

I groaned. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind that much when a sea creature needed my help, but I felt as if I was getting Percy's leftovers. I was only called to do this because it was something that Percy did in the past and if he was there they wouldn't need me to begin with. I felt like Discount Percy Jackson. 

I didn't resent Percy. If anything I admired and respected him. I wanted to be like him, but I didn't want to _be_ him, y’know? 

It was at times like that when I wonder if being me was good enough, and I’d sink back into the void of low self-esteem and uncertainty. 

I shook those feelings away. Self-pity wasn’t going to help me. 

I yawned. “Lemme grab my sword” 

~*~ 

You ever been on a Pegasus that was flying at supersonic speeds in the middle of winter? (Great. Another leftover from the Adventures of Percy Jackson). Having cold air blasted in your face is one way to wake yourself up, but trust me, just drink some coffee. 

Blackjack flew at face peeling speed towards the Atlantic Ocean. The city lights flicker and blurred together underneath us. I brought my big winter coat, which blocked off most of the cold, but I was still shivering. 

“Aren't you supposed to be out looking for Percy?” I yelled over the wind to Blackjack. 

_I was_ , he said. _But I was just in the neighborhood when I got the distress call._

“Distress call? We're not Batman and Robin, Blackjack.” 

_You know what I meant, boss lady, don't split hairs with me. Oh, look, we’re here._

Blackjack slowed down once we were over the Atlantic Ocean. I inhaled the fresh ocean air. The half moon reflected its silver light off of the dark expanse of the sea. I asked him if we were right over the sea creature and Blackjacked confirmed this. 

For a moment, I hesitated. Not because I was afraid of jumping into the sea from the back of a flying horse (I’m no chicken), but something felt off about the ocean. I shrugged it off and slid off of Blackjack. 

Blackjack was half right. There was a sea turtle with its limbs entangled in the holes of a fishing net, but it was easily the size of a Prius. I’ve only seen turtles like that were fossils in museums 

I thought about Hayden. She loved turtles and would be furious if she saw one caught in the net of some careless fishermen. 

Luckily, I was able to communicate with the turtle that I was a friend who came to help him and he cooperated with me. I began the arduous task of cutting the rope with my sword. Celestial bronze was able to cut through the net like butter, but there were still tangles and snags that I had to work through, plus I wasn’t looking to get flattened by a giant turtle on Boxing Day. I calmly talked to the turtle so he wouldn’t become too nervous and get caught up more in the net. 

It took what felt like hours but I was finally able to set the turtle free. He darted from the net trap and swam around in a flourish. 

_Thank you, daughter of the sea god,_ he said. _A kind act will not go unrewarded_. Then he swam away to do whatever it is that giant turtles do. 

I was about to swim back to shore and back to Blackjack when suddenly something shiny in the sand caught my eye. 

For some reason I was drawn to it. I swam towards the shiny object, wiping away the sand that covered it. The tip was curved and glinted like copper. With a yank, I completely unearthed (unsanded?) the metal object. It was a shield, a celestial bronze Greek shield about three feet in diameter with a leather arm strap. 

I studied the front of the plain shield. My fingers roamed the face of the shield, and it rippled like the surface of water. There was a serene scene of ancient Greek farmers tending their fields and their cattle under a cloudless blue sky. 

I gasped, which sounded strange under water. 

The image changed, this time to a scene of a battle field. Bodies littered the blood soaked ground as warriors fought sword to sword. The sky was the color of rust. 

Then the image melted back into an ordinary shield. I studied it closer. It looked like normal celestial bronze, but it felt lighter and more... Magically charged. 

My eyes widened. Was this... 

“The shield of Achilles,” I whispered, my voice sounding like it belong to an older girl. 

I never read the story, but I had one of Hayden's memory's of reading it. My heart sunk at the thought of her reading scroll after scroll for every little bit of information she could find about her brother, hoping to avoid his fate… 

Geez, aren’t I full of the Christmas spirit? 

This must've been a sign from Thetis, somehow. Maybe it was a sign that the gods were still watching over their children. Or maybe things were about to go downhill and I needed all the protection I could get. Either way, I had the feeling that I was meant to have it. 

Was this what the turtle meant? I wasn’t exactly sure how the turtle knew I would find it. Maybe turtles were just weird. 

I fastened the strap to my arm, trying it on for size. Somehow, it was a perfect fit. 

Just then a little fish swam past me, its rainbow scales glittering in the grey light of the sunrise. 

I smiled. “Hey, little guy. Where you off…” 

The fish growled and spun towards me, flashing rows of vicious sharp teeth more fit to be in the mouth of a shark. 

I gulped. "...too?" 

It swam at me in the blink of an eye, grabbed me by my sword arm, and flung me out of the water. I sailed an easy twenty feet out of the water before skipping twice over the surface of the water and sinking back in like a stone. 

If I wasn't the daughter of Poseidon, my bones would have been turned to jell-o and I would most likely dead. 

My body ached and my head was swimming (no pun intended) as I sunk to the sand. Everything was blurry. My injured arm burned. Blood seeped out into the water as I already felt my wound starting to heal. 

Suddenly, I felt a change in the currents of the water. Something bigger than the fish was coming towards me and fast. 

Panicked, I looked around for my sword, but it was nowhere to be found. The shield was still strapped to me arm. 

The fish was coming at me at astounding speed, but it was no longer normal size. Somehow, it had grown to the size of a truck. 

It bared its teeth and prepared to take a bite out of me. 

At the last second I was able to jump out of the way. I felt the water pressure around me move against me, and I was shot twenty feet away from the fish. 

Whoa! Was that me? 

I wasn’t about to wait around for an answer; the fish was starting to realize that it just took a big bite out of a sandbank and not a tasty demigod. I concentrated on the currents of the waves, willing them to carry me. The water responded, propelling me away faster than I could swim. 

I was practically flying underwater as I hunted the ocean floor for my sword. My blood was pounding in my ears. I circled around, my eyes peeled wide open. But there was no sign of my sword. 

I could've left right then and there. My sword was replaceable after all. But... I just couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to leave it behind. I needed to find it. 

The fish was gaining on me, moving way too fast for something that size. 

I didn’t stop moving, but I was starting to slow down. The fish was forty feet away…twenty feet. I knew that it would eventually catch up to me. 

I stopped and crouched, holding the shield protectively above me. My eyes were shut tight, ready to be impaled. 

The monster loomed over me, clamped its jaws over the shield, but the bite never happened. The monster fish was ramming into the shield and chomping down hard on it. The shield didn’t cave in even a little. Even the best celestial bronze weapons can break when under a lot of pressure. What the heck was this thing made of? 

I pushed against the fish, controlling the currents of the water to move myself faster. I slammed the shield into the fish’s ugly face with all my might and drove myself away as fast as I could before the monster became unfazed. 

The ocean floor was zipping past me so fast that I nearly past my sword. It stood up straight, the blade stuck into the sand. I swam for it, grinning wildly once it was in my hand. A wave of relief washed over me. 

I was so excited that I almost forgot about the monster.  Through the currents, I could tell that it was quickly catching up to me. 

I tried to get to the surface, but the fish grabbed a hold of my left leg. I cried out in pain as the monster pierced its fangs through my calf. 

Black spots danced around in the corners of my vision. My leg was burning. In a last ditch effort, swung my blade down on the monster’s head, and it instantly disintegrated. The yellow sand was swept away from the ocean current. 

Panting, I sank back down to the ocean floor and I inspected my leg. The holes were closing up, the scars quickly fading. On the downside, if I was caught sneaking back into the house in the state I was in, I’d have to answer a million questions from my parents that I would no answers for. 

I stared at my sword one more time before sheathing it. I willed the water to push me to the surface. 

The water shot me out like a bullet. Blackjack caught me before I could fall back into the sea again, but unfortunately I landed on flat my stomach, knocking all the air out of my lungs. 

I wheezed and nearly upchucked my dinner. 

“Thanks, Blackjack,” I groaned. 

_No problem, boss lady,_ he said. _What was_ that _all about?_

“I'll explain on the way home, I promise.” I fixed myself on Blackjack’s back. “C'mon, Blackjack. Get me home before my parents wake up, and I'll buy you a whole box of donuts on my way back to camp.”

I was exhausted by the time I snuck back into my cabin. Maybe an hour of sleep went by before I was jump started out of bed by the camp’s alarm system. 

And I do mean out of bed. I fell out of the top bunk and hit the floor. It was a miracle I didn’t break my neck. 

I jumped to my feet—rubbing the crook in my neck—hastily grabbed my sword, threw on my armor, and rushed outside to see what the emergency was. 

Other campers were running out of their cabins, weapons in their hands. Will and his siblings already had their bows drawn. Most campers, like me, wore their armor over their pajamas and didn’t brush their hair. Satyrs where screaming and running away in a panic from whatever the danger was. The danger in question was partially disappointing. 

It was Leo on Festus, circling over the heads of the campers before landing down onto the green. The dragon’s bronze and copper scales reflected the blinding light of the sun. Leo tried to explain himself while the campers stood in a semicircle around him, ready to attack. All I could think was _wow, that kid sure knew how to make an entrance._

Eventually, Leo, Jason, and Piper boarded Festus and took off. I hoped that they were successful on their quest, for more than just the fact that if they fail, they’ll probably die and some giant will get their revenge. Jason seemed experienced, even though he had amnesia. Piper didn’t seem as fragile as some other Aphrodite kids did, but she didn’t have much training. Neither did Leo, but he was quick (or lucky) enough to dodge the dragon’s attack, plus he was resourceful. I had the feeling they could do it. 

After that bit of excitement, Lou Ellen walked up to me, her sword in hand and her pig-pattern PJs on under her armor. Her hair was a bird’s nest and there was a wild look in her green eyes. 

“What was—I mean—how—” 

“Complete sentences, Lou,” I said. I wrapped my arm over her shoulder. “Come on. You need Froot Loops.” 

We both headed off to the dining pavilion without changing. I was still in my bronze armor with my black tank top on underneath and bottoms that were spotted with the Star Wars logo. Normally, I would’ve been embarrassed to be out and about in Star Wars paraphernalia, but after being outside dolled up like a lady of the night and naked in a bath towel, nothing could ever be as bad, not even if I was wearing My Little Pony pajamas. 

Drew and her cabin passed by the two of us on the way to breakfast. She looked me up and down and smirked. 

“Nice PJs,” she said. 

“Nice mustache,” I retorted. I swung my sword over my shoulder and strolled over to the Poseidon table. 

~*~ 

After breakfast, I saw Annabeth off and wished her luck on her quest. Her eyes were cold and determined. She promised to keep me updated on her search and news at camp if she could. 

For the rest of the day, the stunt Leo pulled was the talk of the town (err, camp). I bit my tongue whenever someone wondered how the new kid was able to tame the malfunctioning dragon and how he found metal wings to put on it to begin with. 

My head was still spinning from last night’s adventure. 

Festus led us to a limestone cliff, seemingly for no reason. Then, Leo placed his hand on the wall of rock. His hand smoked and five lines of fire spread from his fingertips. A glowing red door easily forty feet tall appeared and swung open silently. 

My jaw dropped. I looked back and forth between him and the door. 

Leo looked at me strangely. “You’ll get bugs in your mouth that way.” 

I pointed at the cliff. “H-how did you know it could do that?!” 

“I didn’t. I guess it’s heat sensitive.” 

But there was something in the tone of his voice that made me think that he wasn’t being completely honest. 

Before I could ask any questions, Festus barged right past and into the cave. 

“Right,” I said. “After him, I guess.” 

The two of us followed, the limestone wall closing behind us on its own. That couldn’t have been a good sign. 

This cavern was beyond massive. There were more worktables than I could count covered in loads weapons and a bunch of half finished of machinery that I couldn't name. Catwalks ran across high ceiling. Blueprints for various complicated machines were hung everywhere. This room was an inventor’s dream. 

Festus walked into the center of the room and laid on a platform. Above him was an old, worn banner that read _Bunker 9_ in Ancient Greek. 

“Does that mean nine as in the Hephaestus cabin or as in there eight others?” Leo wondered aloud. 

“Not a clue,” I said. 

“Any idea what this place is?” 

I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of this place.” I swiped my finger across a table, cutting a line through the dust. “It looks abandoned.” 

On a bulletin board, Leo found an old faded battle map from the Civil War, as well as the blueprints for a Greek trireme with a dragon figure head that looked suspiciously like Festus. 

“That’s creepy,” he mumbled under his breath. 

I stared at the blueprint, but couldn’t make any sense out of it. “Festus was built in the days before the camp had magical borders,” I said. “He was the old guardian, but I didn't think he was _that_ old. 

Leo didn't seem convinced. He looked as if he were shifting through ideas over and over again in his mind. 

Through some mime work from Festus, Leo found a pair of wings hanging from the ceiling. I started to search for a ladder, but the wings looked too heavy for either of us to carry. We hunted through the Bunker for probably a half hour before we found some sort of pulley machine that was able to lower the metal wings down easily. 

Leo went to work attaching the wings right away. I helped as much as I could; mostly following his directions. When Leo focused on the harder parts, I went off exploring deeper into the bunker, careful not to stray too far away from him. 

The cave was eerily silent except for the buzzing and whirling of Leo’s tools, and the soft echo of my footsteps. 

I wondered how big the bunker was. If the Hephaestus cabin built it, then there was a good chance that it could go on forever. I’ve been in cabin nine before and it was a lot more tricked out than the Poseidon cabin, probably because it was planned to house a lot more campers. 

I passed a storage closet just as dull _thump-thump-thump_ came from behind the door. After debating with myself whether or not to open the door, morbid curiosity got the better of me. I jiggled the knob and pried open the door. 

A little three-legged table hobbled out and immediately tipped over onto its round, flat top. 

I stared at it as it jerked its legs desperately, trying to turn over and get back onto his legs. It reminded me kinda of a turtle on its back; cute in how pathetic it was in a really weird sort of way. 

“Okay,” I said, “enough of this bit.” 

I flipped the little table over and it thanked me by walking straight into me and ramming me in the hip. 

“Hey!” I protested. 

It then tried to run away, but it swayed and wobbled like it was dizzy, bumping into walls and staggering. He—I decided it was a boy table—was either broken or a dunk. 

Sorry. Stupid thought was stupid. 

“C’mon,” I held onto the tabletop and led him back to where Leo was. “Civilization is this-a-way.” 

Leo was nearly finished attaching one of the wings when I got back with the table. “Hey, Leo. Look what I found—yikes!” 

Leo was covered in oil and soot. His army jacket was grimy and his curly was greasy and stuck out at weird angles. 

“What happened to you?” I asked him. 

“Huh?” he looked down and seemed to notice the state he was in for the first time. “Oh. You probably didn’t notice when we were outside in the dar—is that table alive?” 

Gotta love that ADHD. 

As if on cue, the table started to spaz again and do the crazy legs. He wiggled himself out of my grasp, ran over to a wall, and crashed into it repeatedly before going still and falling over dead. 

“Uh…” Leo said. “What was that about?” 

“It’s automaton table,” I explained. “Kinda like the ones Hephaestus has. They hold his tools and important parts and junk. Only his are larger since the gods are apparently giants, and,” a sideways glance to the dead table, “his actually work.” 

“Like a little helper, huh?” Leo said, clearly interested. “That’s awesome. I got to fix him up after this quest.” 

Leo worked like machine. He could work on attaching wings to Festus while cracking jokes and telling funny stories (Taco Claus needs to be a thing. Let’s make it happen, people). I never thought that someone could multitask that well, even a demigod. We were _made_ to multitask, and Leo took that up to eleven. 

Again, gotta love that ADHD. 

Before I left, I promised Leo on the river Styxx that I wouldn’t tell anyone about Bunker Nine and wished him luck on his quest. I liked Leo; he was funny and a mechanical genius, but it was obvious that he was hiding something.  But I wasn’t about to pry into a potentially sensitive topic. 

~*~ 

Argus drove me and a few other kids to Grand Central Station. I looked out the window as buildings and people blurred past us. The snow fell gently outside. I’d almost forgotten that it was winter in the mortal world. 

This was my first Christmas since Hayden died. Out of habit, I almost bought her a gift from the camp store when I was doing my Christmas shopping (P.S. the Stolls will rob a Wal-Mart and sell you the items on the camp’s black market. Do with that information what you will. I, for one, didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth). 

Usually, I'd get Hayden something small and un-Christmas-sy, like a metal CD or dark makeup or something. One year I bought her these knee high skull-and-cross bones socks and a shirt with the same design. She wore them religiously every year. They were probably with the rest of her clothes that were still in the Thetis cabin. I didn't have the courage to back in there. 

Hayden was in Elysium now, celebrating the holidays with her father for the first time in years. I was happy for her, really, but I still missed her. My heart ached wherever I thought about her. 

I still had all of her pictures in my room. Sooner or later, I had to go through all of them. I owed that to her. 

Thinking of Hayden made me think about Thetis and the promise I made not to tell anyone about the Roman gods. I wondered if that had anything to do with Percy’s disappearance, or the quest that Leo went on. If it did, I couldn’t find any connection. Maybe it was a coincidence. 

_A_ coincidence? _You’re joking, right?_

Okay, maybe that was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t draw any conclusions to connect the two events. 

Would Nico know what was going on? Probably not; we both knew the exact same thing. Besides, I swore on the Styx not to tell anyone about the Roman gods. Would admitting that I knew still count as going against the oath? I’m not risking breaking any oaths. 

Not having any answers was giving me a headache. I tried not to let it bother me. Everything was gonna make sense eventually, right? It had to. Right? 

I tried to push all of my thoughts aside. It was Christmas after all. I was gonna enjoy it. 

I bought my ticket for the subway. No monsters bothered me as I road to the Upper East Side. 

~*~ 

So you've gotten to know me pretty well by now. I guess I should introduce you to my family. 

You already know my parents, David and Lanakila, my sister Alana, and my baby brother, Max. 

My grandparents on my dad's side were Walter and Josephine Fischer. My cousins and I call them Gramps and Nana. The two of them met during the Vietnam War after the helicopter Grandpa was in went down and he lost his left leg in the crash. Nana was a nurse. Both of their parents were German immigrants. 

My grandmother was half Jewish, so sometimes she would insist that we should celebrate Chanukah as well as Christmas. This was not one of those times. 

Gramps started his company after he was honorably discharged. When I was little I thought that he was a cyborg because of his prosthetic leg. I used to wanted a leg like Gramps, but he would always tell me that losing a leg isn’t as cool as he made it look. 

My dad had two siblings. There was my uncle Kristof who lived in Boston and was a standup comedian. He was named after Nana's brother who died in Vietnam. Uncle didn't have any children, but usually had a different girlfriend every time I saw him. 

There was a summer that Alana and I spent with him where all we did was watch everything is his sci-fi collection. Alana came out unscathed, but I will forever spend life worrying that other kids will pick on me if I made a reference to Star Trek that was something other than the Vulcan salute. 

On the other hand, my aunt Julia was married to a really awesome woman named Lisa. They adopted my cousins Mae, from China; Giovanni, from Guatemala; and Dina, from Russia. Mae was a year older than me and Alana. She liked to read and was quiet compare to little Dina who was four and rambunctious and outgoing. Giovanni, who was ten, met somewhere in between the two of them. Aunt Julia was a police officer in Yonkers (yes. That is a real place) and Aunt Lisa was an English teacher. 

(Good luck remembering all that. There’ll be a quiz later). 

My family was fairly religious, but I was never all that into it, which helped when I had to accept the fact that there were Greek gods running around and messing with the mortal world. Although, that comic I saw where Jesus beats up the gods and was about to square off with Zeus a _lot_ weirder in hindsight… 

This year, my whole family decided to come over to my house for Christmas.  I spent the days with my family, playing board games, watching Christmas specials, baking cookies, and wrapping presents. We went fishing, shopping, and ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Not once was I attacked by a monster. It felt like I was a normal kid again, before I was introduced to the world of Greek mythology, and I didn't have to worry about monsters coming after me or the people I care about going missing...or dying. 

The night of the Winter Solstice, the deadline for Jason’s quest, rolled around, and I was wide awake, staring up and the ceiling. My stomach churned in worry, I didn’t even know if the three of them where alive or not, or if Annabeth was okay. I needed answers. 

When it was cleared that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night, I climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen. 

When I saw Alana already there raiding the fridge, I wasn’t too surprised. 

"You, too?" I asked her. 

Alana jumped two feet in the air shrieked. 

I smiled. “Great, wake up everyone in the house, why don’tcha?” 

She glared at me. “You scared me! Since when where you little Miss Lightfoot?” 

“Since September.” 

Alana waved away my answer. "Whatever. I just came down here for more of Nana's ginger bread cookies. What about you?” 

“What do you think?” 

She looked at me and grinned. “Snack time?” 

I nodded. “Snack time.” 

We gathered up the rest of Nana’s cookies and a couple of other goodies and headed to Alana's room, since she had a bigger bed. 

Snack time was sorta a tradition for us. If we were both up at the same time during the night, we'd get some snacks and hang out while watching TV. I once joked that it was our weird twin thing, but Madame Buzzkillington had to point out that we were fraternal so that didn’t make sense. Just ignore her. 

Alana’s dog, Buttercup, was curled up in a ball on top of one of the pillow. I dump the junk food in the middle of the fuchsia sheets and started flipping through TV channels. After arguing over whether we should watch an R-rated comedy or a Christmas-themed romcom (gag), we finally settled on _the Golden Girls._

“I see that you eat as much junk food as ever,” Alana chastised after I wolfed down three hohos and a Dr. Pepper. “You’re going to die if you keep that up.” 

“Trust me,” I said impassively, “when I die, it won't be junk food that kills me.” 

“I was trying to be serious.” 

“So was I. Hey, which one do you think I'm most like? Dorothy or Rose?" 

“I think you're more like Blanche," Alana smirked. 

I threw popcorn at her. "Oh, how I missed your constant belittling. You must miss doing that every day." 

Alana frowned and turned her attention to the bowl of popcorn. "I don't _belittle_ you, Kaia." 

"But you miss me,” I teased, poking her in the thigh with a twizzler. “Admit it. You miss this face." 

"I miss you like I miss having the chickenpox." 

I put my hand to my heart and feigned being hurt. "Jeez, this show is making you snarky." 

Alana sighed. "You know I do, Kaia. Everyone does. We've spent almost every day together since we were born. It's weird without you, as annoying as you are." 

"I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult." 

"Don't ruin this moment." 

I stuck my tongue out at her and took a swig of Dr. Pepper. Ah, Mother Nature’s perfect drink. 

It was quiet for a while except for the sound of my munching and our laughter at the show. It took my mind off of prophecies and quests and possible death. 

“Kaia?” Alana said tentatively. 

“Hmmm?” 

“I… I like Axel and I think he likes me back. I want to ask him out.” 

She looked at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to do a flip. 

I popped a piece of popcorn in my mouth. “That's awesome, Lana. Go for it.” 

She looked at me wide eyed as if I'd just grown a second head. 

I frowned at her. “What?” 

“That's all you have to say?” 

“Oh, I, uh, hope it works out and you two… bear lots of offspring?” 

“Kaia!” Alana cried. “That’s not what I meant. I know you have a crush on Axel.” 

I almost gagged on my popcorn. "What do you mean _you know_?" 

"Everyone knew. Well, except for Axel. It was _so_ obvious." 

I shook my head. "That’s embarrassing. Why are you telling me this?” 

“I already told you. I want to ask him out. It’s just… Do you still have a crush on him, Kaia? I won’t date him if you still do.” 

Silently, I looked at Alana. Her face displayed a range of emotions: embarrassment, concern, nervousness, and a little bit of hope. I was completely at a loss for words. 

My whole life I’ve been jealous of my sister. She was prettier than me, smarter than me, and all-around better than me. Alana was _perfect_. She had others worshipping the ground she walked on. She was my annoying twin sister who was a perfectionist and thought she was better than everybody else. I wasn’t just jealous. I resented her. 

A few months ago I would’ve been pissed. Of course she _had_ to have the guy I liked and _of course_ he liked her instead of me. That was the story of my life. 

Instead, I finally saw who my sister was. Sure she could be a control freak, but she was caring underneath it all. She could be funny when she wasn’t being uptight. For the first time, I saw her as _normal_. She was worried about school and boys, and I was kept awake worrying where Percy was and whether or not the world was heading towards Armageddon. 

Now, I envied her for her normality, not her perfection. The only difference now was that I didn’t resent her for it. 

I broke a gingerbread man in half. “I don’t still like him, Lana.” 

“Are you absolutely sure?” Alana asked carefully. 

“What do you want, my blessing? All I hope is that he treats you right. I gotta watch out for my little sister.” 

She folded her arms. “I'm a whole day older than you.” 

“Yeah, but I'm taller.” 

“By an inch.” 

I pointed my cookie at her and winked. “That's all it takes. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be Dad that'll get in the way of your love life way more than I will. Trust me.” 

She fell backwards on her bed and groaned, her hands over her face. Buttercup was awoken by the sudden movement and looked pretty annoyed, or at least as annoyed as a ball of fluff could look. 

“I forgot,” Alana groaned. “I have to tell Mom and Dad!” 

I snickered. “That means we all get to watch Dad freak out about his little girl dating for Christmas. Can’t wait to see that.” 

“Don’t worry, Kaia. In about twenty years you’ll go through the same thing, too.” 

I nudged her in the thigh and grabbed the remote. “This show’s snark is rubbing off on you. I’m changing it to Adult Swim.” 

She shot up and snatched the remote back. “Not until we find out which Elvis impersonator is Quentin Territino.” 

We went back to watching Sofia’s wedding just as I caught the air shimmering in rainbow colors in the corner if my eye. 

I almost spewed my soda. 

“You know what?" I said, jumping out of the bed and running towards the door. "I gotta bathroom now." 

I rounded the corner of the hallway, ran into the bathroom, and shut the door behind me. Thankfully, the Iris Message followed me. The image began to solidify, and I was able to make who the caller was. 

“Annabeth!” I whispered-yelled. I was shocked to see her, but mostly relieved. She looked like she was mostly intact. “Is everything okay?” 

She sighed. “I’ve got some news for you.” 

~*~ 

Christmas came and it was great. My family liked the presents I got them: jewelry made of Pegasus feathers, a tie spotted with little satyrs, a Dr. Who wall clock, and stuff like that. 

I felt at ease knowing that the quest was successful and no giants were laying waste to the world (at least not yet). Annabeth told me that she would tell me the full story when I got been to camp and to enjoy my Christmas break. I hoped she was doing the same, but doubted it. If my boyfriend went missing right before Christmas, I’d be a regular Scrooge. 

I got a lot of awesome presents, too. Clothes, a Nintendo DSi, a Polaroid camera, and a ton a film for it. Oh, was I gonna have fun with this baby. 

Mom cooked another feast and I ate myself into a delicious food coma. I got the first dreamless sleep that I had in months. 

I was awakened by a tapping sound. I opened my weary eyes, but didn’t see anything in my room except the pale moon light that seeped through the cracks of my blinds. 

I was about to fall back asleep when the tapping noise happened again. It sounded suspiciously like a hoof. 

Should I ignore that? 

_YES. Sleep now_. 

But what if it’s Santa? 

_Santa isn’t real, dummy_. 

But the Greek gods are? That was the injustice of the world I live in. I guess it could be worse. There could be other groups of ancient gods running amuck in the world. That would probably be a disaster of epic proportions 

I moaned and rolled out of bed. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I peeked behind my blinds. 

At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. How did a jet black horse climb all the way to the third story without using stairs? 

But it wasn’t just any regular horse. It was Blackjack the Pegasus. Percy’s Pegasus. 

_Yo, boss lady. Open up!_

“Blackjack! I cried. I opened the window as far as I dared to as to not set off the alarm. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” 

_Percy told me your address,_ he said. 

That checked out. Percy and I exchanged addresses in cases of emergencies. 

“Is it about Percy? Did he send you here?” 

_No. It's something else. Some little sea critter needs your help._

“At,” I looked at my digital clock, “6:18 in the morning? My parents are gonna be up in an hour. If I am gone, they will murder me!” 

_It won't take that long, boss lady,_ Blackjack insisted. _I promise._

I groaned. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind that much when a sea creature needed my help, but I felt as if I was getting Percy's leftovers. I was only called to do this because it was something that Percy did in the past and if he was there they wouldn't need me to begin with. I felt like Discount Percy Jackson. 

I didn't resent Percy. If anything I admired and respected him. I wanted to be like him, but I didn't want to _be_ him, y’know? 

It was at times like that when I wonder if being me was good enough, and I’d sink back into the void of low self-esteem and uncertainty. 

I shook those feelings away. Self-pity wasn’t going to help me. 

I yawned. “Lemme grab my sword” 

~*~ 

You ever been on a Pegasus that was flying at supersonic speeds in the middle of winter? (Great. Another leftover from the Adventures of Percy Jackson). Having cold air blasted in your face is one way to wake yourself up, but trust me, just drink some coffee. 

Blackjack flew at face peeling speed towards the Atlantic Ocean. The city lights flicker and blurred together underneath us. I brought my big winter coat, which blocked off most of the cold, but I was still shivering. 

“Aren't you supposed to be out looking for Percy?” I yelled over the wind to Blackjack. 

_I was_ , he said. _But I was just in the neighborhood when I got the distress call._

“Distress call? We're not Batman and Robin, Blackjack.” 

_You know what I meant, boss lady, don't split hairs with me. Oh, look, we’re here._

Blackjack slowed down once we were over the Atlantic Ocean. I inhaled the fresh ocean air. The half moon reflected its silver light off of the dark expanse of the sea. I asked him if we were right over the sea creature and Blackjacked confirmed this. 

For a moment, I hesitated. Not because I was afraid of jumping into the sea from the back of a flying horse (I’m no chicken), but something felt off about the ocean. I shrugged it off and slid off of Blackjack. 

Blackjack was half right. There was a sea turtle with its limbs entangled in the holes of a fishing net, but it was easily the size of a Prius. I’ve only seen turtles like that were fossils in museums 

I thought about Hayden. She loved turtles and would be furious if she saw one caught in the net of some careless fishermen. 

Luckily, I was able to communicate with the turtle that I was a friend who came to help him and he cooperated with me. I began the arduous task of cutting the rope with my sword. Celestial bronze was able to cut through the net like butter, but there were still tangles and snags that I had to work through, plus I wasn’t looking to get flattened by a giant turtle on Boxing Day. I calmly talked to the turtle so he wouldn’t become too nervous and get caught up more in the net. 

It took what felt like hours but I was finally able to set the turtle free. He darted from the net trap and swam around in a flourish. 

_Thank you, daughter of the sea god,_ he said. _A kind act will not go unrewarded_. Then he swam away to do whatever it is that giant turtles do. 

I was about to swim back to shore and back to Blackjack when suddenly something shiny in the sand caught my eye. 

For some reason I was drawn to it. I swam towards the shiny object, wiping away the sand that covered it. The tip was curved and glinted like copper. With a yank, I completely unearthed (unsanded?) the metal object. It was a shield, a celestial bronze Greek shield about three feet in diameter with a leather arm strap. 

I studied the front of the plain shield. My fingers roamed the face of the shield, and it rippled like the surface of water. There was a serene scene of ancient Greek farmers tending their fields and their cattle under a cloudless blue sky. 

I gasped, which sounded strange under water. 

The image changed, this time to a scene of a battle field. Bodies littered the blood soaked ground as warriors fought sword to sword. The sky was the color of rust. 

Then the image melted back into an ordinary shield. I studied it closer. It looked like normal celestial bronze, but it felt lighter and more... Magically charged. 

My eyes widened. Was this... 

“The shield of Achilles,” I whispered, my voice sounding like it belong to an older girl. 

I never read the story, but I had one of Hayden's memory's of reading it. My heart sunk at the thought of her reading scroll after scroll for every little bit of information she could find about her brother, hoping to avoid his fate… 

Geez, aren’t I full of the Christmas spirit? 

This must've been a sign from Thetis, somehow. Maybe it was a sign that the gods were still watching over their children. Or maybe things were about to go downhill and I needed all the protection I could get. Either way, I had the feeling that I was meant to have it. 

Was this what the turtle meant? I wasn’t exactly sure how the turtle knew I would find it. Maybe turtles were just weird. 

I fastened the strap to my arm, trying it on for size. Somehow, it was a perfect fit. 

Just then a little fish swam past me, its rainbow scales glittering in the grey light of the sunrise. 

I smiled. “Hey, little guy. Where you off…” 

The fish growled and spun towards me, flashing rows of vicious sharp teeth more fit to be in the mouth of a shark. 

I gulped. "...too?" 

It swam at me in the blink of an eye, grabbed me by my sword arm, and flung me out of the water. I sailed an easy twenty feet out of the water before skipping twice over the surface of the water and sinking back in like a stone. 

If I wasn't the daughter of Poseidon, my bones would have been turned to jell-o and I would most likely dead. 

My body ached and my head was swimming (no pun intended) as I sunk to the sand. Everything was blurry. My injured arm burned. Blood seeped out into the water as I already felt my wound starting to heal. 

Suddenly, I felt a change in the currents of the water. Something bigger than the fish was coming towards me and fast. 

Panicked, I looked around for my sword, but it was nowhere to be found. The shield was still strapped to me arm. 

The fish was coming at me at astounding speed, but it was no longer normal size. Somehow, it had grown to the size of a truck. 

It bared its teeth and prepared to take a bite out of me. 

At the last second I was able to jump out of the way. I felt the water pressure around me move against me, and I was shot twenty feet away from the fish. 

Whoa! Was that me? 

I wasn’t about to wait around for an answer; the fish was starting to realize that it just took a big bite out of a sandbank and not a tasty demigod. I concentrated on the currents of the waves, willing them to carry me. The water responded, propelling me away faster than I could swim. 

I was practically flying underwater as I hunted the ocean floor for my sword. My blood was pounding in my ears. I circled around, my eyes peeled wide open. But there was no sign of my sword. 

I could've left right then and there. My sword was replaceable after all. But... I just couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to leave it behind. I needed to find it. 

The fish was gaining on me, moving way too fast for something that size. 

I didn’t stop moving, but I was starting to slow down. The fish was forty feet away…twenty feet. I knew that it would eventually catch up to me. 

I stopped and crouched, holding the shield protectively above me. My eyes were shut tight, ready to be impaled. 

The monster loomed over me, clamped its jaws over the shield, but the bite never happened. The monster fish was ramming into the shield and chomping down hard on it. The shield didn’t cave in even a little. Even the best celestial bronze weapons can break when under a lot of pressure. What the heck was this thing made of? 

I pushed against the fish, controlling the currents of the water to move myself faster. I slammed the shield into the fish’s ugly face with all my might and drove myself away as fast as I could before the monster became unfazed. 

The ocean floor was zipping past me so fast that I nearly past my sword. It stood up straight, the blade stuck into the sand. I swam for it, grinning wildly once it was in my hand. A wave of relief washed over me. 

I was so excited that I almost forgot about the monster.  Through the currents, I could tell that it was quickly catching up to me. 

I tried to get to the surface, but the fish grabbed a hold of my left leg. I cried out in pain as the monster pierced its fangs through my calf. 

Black spots danced around in the corners of my vision. My leg was burning. In a last ditch effort, swung my blade down on the monster’s head, and it instantly disintegrated. The yellow sand was swept away from the ocean current. 

Panting, I sank back down to the ocean floor and I inspected my leg. The holes were closing up, the scars quickly fading. On the downside, if I was caught sneaking back into the house in the state I was in, I’d have to answer a million questions from my parents that I would no answers for. 

I stared at my sword one more time before sheathing it. I willed the water to push me to the surface. 

The water shot me out like a bullet. Blackjack caught me before I could fall back into the sea again, but unfortunately I landed on flat my stomach, knocking all the air out of my lungs. 

I wheezed and nearly upchucked my dinner. 

“Thanks, Blackjack,” I groaned. 

_No problem, boss lady,_ he said. _What was_ that _all about?_

“I'll explain on the way home, I promise.” I fixed myself on Blackjack’s back. “C'mon, Blackjack. Get me home before my parents wake up, and I'll buy you a whole box of donuts on my way back to camp.”


	6. Chapter 6

Pegasi really love donuts. 

Blackjack had me back home before anyone was awake at my house (well, except for Max, but if he somehow remembers a black winged horse flying by his window when he’s older, then I’ll just tell him I was riding on a giant mutant pigeon, a la Neverending Story style. He’ll believe that.) 

New Year’s came and went, and it was time for me to go back to Camp Half-Blood. I felt anxious about going back. I had no clue what was going on back at camp, and the news that Annabeth didn’t share couldn’t have been good. On the other hand, I was looking forward to seeing my friends at camp again and finally getting to play Capture the Flag. 

At the same time, I was really going to miss my family. I’d miss listening to my grandparents Frank Sinatra Christmas Carol album, watching movies with my family, and playing board games with Alana and my cousins. I’d miss the normalcy of the mortal world. 

While packing my things up in Hayden’s bag, I found a little box wrapped in blue wrapping paper and dotted with little Santas wearing sunglasses on the beach. It was the present I got for Percy. Until then, I’d almost forgotten about it. I’d already given my fiends their presents, so I decided to bring Percy’s home with me so that I could at least wrap it. I’d hoped that he'd be back before Christmas... 

I sighed and tucked the little box back into the lavender bag. My new shield was too big to fit into the bag, but thankfully my family thought it was my surfboard. I had no clue how they got a surfboard from a shield, but magic Mist is magic. I won’t question it. 

After a ton of goodbyes and even more hugs, I left my home and my family and set out. My parents gave me enough money for the cab ride back to camp, but since Blackjack was giving me a ride, I decided the money would go towards Dunkin Donuts. 

I did my best taxicab whistle and in a few seconds Blackjack swooped down. I climbed onto of his back and the two of us took off into the winter air. Thankfully I found another snow jacket, one that didn’t see combat with a multicolored monster fish. 

A few minutes later, Blackjack and I were sitting on top of a Dunkin Donuts. Blackjack pigged out on a box of a dozen donuts while I bundled up in my snow jacket and blew air out of my mouth to see my breath. 

I surveyed the city below. Everything seemed so normal down there; it was strange to think that any taxi driver, hotdog vender, or standard homeless person could be a monster. It made my stomach churn. Well that, or it was because of height we were at. Put me on a flying Pegasus and I’ll be fine; but on top of a building smaller than most houses? Forget about it. Look, I know it doesn’t make any sense. 

I glanced over at Blackjack. “You’re gonna get a stomach ache eating that fast.” 

But he was already lost to the delicious donuts. 

I chuckled at looked back down at the familiar streets. I spotted an apartment complex below, and an idea started to form. Should I go down there and visit her, I thought. Aside from being awk-weird, was it really my place to go and see her? I had no clue how she’d react. Still… 

“Hey, Blackjack,” I said, finally getting his attention. “Drop me off there?” 

I pointed towards the apartment complex. 

If a Pegasus could look confused, Blackjack did. _Uh, sure thing, boss lady. But why you wanna do that?_

I told him why. “I’ll whistle for you when I’m done, kay?” 

Blackjack did as I asked and dropped me off on the sidewalk in front of the building I pointed out. Pedestrians stared at me as if I just dropped out of a spaceship before shaking their heads and going on their way. I was probably taking advantage of the Mist’s powers. 

Eh, I’ll be careful later. 

I stared up at the apartment building, feeling a little nervous. There was no point in turning back now. 

I entered the building, heading straight for Percy’s apartment. 

~*~ 

I rapped a few times on the door and waited. I was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t my best idea and that I should leave when the door opened. 

In front of me stood a woman my mom's age, give or take a few years. Her brown hair was long and tousled with a few gray streaks, but it didn’t make her look old. Her eyes were puffy, like she wasn’t getting enough sleep, or like she’d been crying. 

She looked down at me quizzically. “Hello?” Her voice sounded strained. 

I swallowed. “Uh, hi Mrs. Jackson. I'm Kaia, Percy’s…” 

I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. I considered Percy to be my brother, but I didn’t know how Mrs. Jackson would react to that. 

But she seemed to know who I was. After her initial shock, Mrs. Jackson invited me inside and insisted on getting me something to eat. My stomach gurgled at the thought of food, so I didn’t decline the offer. 

Percy’s apartment had a cozy, lived in feel to it. The air smelled like cinnamon and pine needles. Pictures were hung on the walls and a few were on the coffee table. It seemed small to me (which just goes to show you how spoiled I was) but it looked comfortable, like a real home. It sorta reminded me of Hayden’s old apartment in Brookline. 

Christmas decorations and a cute little Christmas tree were still up with some presents still unwrapped underneath it. Obviously they were Percy’s. I tried not to let that get me too depressed. 

Mrs. Jackson gave me two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a couple of blue Christmas cookies. The sandwiches were cut into triangles, which I thought was a little odd. I guess it was a normal mom thing to do, but my mom never did that and hasn’t made my lunch since elementary school, and Saint Catherine’s didn’t make their sandwiches like that. Oddly enough, cutting it like that made the sandwich taste better. 

I noticed a picture of Mrs. Jackson, Percy (who, for whatever reason was covered in mud), and a man who must’ve been Paul Blowfish—sorry, Blo _fis_ —, Percy’s stepdad. 

“That’s a nice picture,” I said, trying to break up the awkward silence. “But why does Percy look like he lost a mud wrestling contest.” 

Mrs. Jackson smiled, but some of the sadness stayed in her eyes. “You know Percy. He ran into monster, but he managed to make it to the wedding rehearsal on time. Trying to explain what happened to Paul is quite the story in and of itself.” 

I laughed. “That sounds like something that would happen to him.” 

“Percy has told me a lot about you.” When she said it I was surprised that there was no bitterness in her voice. I knew she was nice from what Percy's told me, but I still expected a little bit of hostility. Most people in her position would. But I guess Mrs. Jackson wasn’t like most people. 

“Hopefully they weren’t the embarrassing things,” I said. 

“No, no. They were all good things. He’s told me how you’ve improved in swordplay and basketball.” 

“Did he tell you about my miracle shot? How I hit the hoop with the ball and it bounced off and conked me in the face?” 

Mrs. Jackson laughed. “He did mention it, I’m afraid.” 

I laughed too, and the two of us talked for a while, swapping our favorite Percy stories. It was fun talking about Percy; it almost made me feel like he was still with us. Mrs. Jackson was easy to talk to. She was just as nice as Percy described. 

I noticed the time on the walk clock. I’d stayed over longer than I meant to. 

“I should probably go now,” I said, standing up. “I’m supposed to go to camp. And there’s a Pegasus on the loose in New York City who is hopped up on donuts. Someone has to reel him in. Just one more thing…” 

I pulled Percy’s present out of my bag and placed it on the coffee table. Mrs. Jackson looked at it quizzically then back at me. 

“It's for Percy,” I explained. “I thought he'd like it. And I figured if— _when_ he came back, he'd come here first.” 

Mrs. Jackson blinked then smiled widely. Her eyes, which were dull before, sparkled and changed color. I couldn’t help but noticed that when she smiled, she looked a lot like Percy. 

“That’s very kind of you, dear,” she said. “May I ask what it is?” 

I blushed a little, because the present was maybe a bit lame. “They’re skateboard wheels shaped like basketballs. I got some kids from the Hermes cabin to do me a favor.” 

(Actually, I guilt-tripped the Stolls into finding those for me, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.) 

Mrs. Jackson laughed, but not at me or the present. “I know that Percy will love it.” 

I smiled and shifted on my feet. “Well, I should get going. Thank you for lunch.” 

“You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you, Kaia.” 

“You too, Mrs. Jackson.” 

~*~ 

Blackjack dropped me off in front of the Big House then took off almost immediately. His sugar crash was gonna hit him _hard_. 

I spotted Annabeth leaning against the porch railing of the Big House, staring off towards the strawberry field. Her grey eyes seemed extra stormy, and I could tell that she was deep in thought. Her blonde hair was a mess and she looked tired. 

“Annabeth!” I jogged up the porch steps to greet her. 

Her solemn expression didn’t change much when she saw me. 

“Hi, Kaia. I just finished speaking to Chiron.” Then, she seemed to notice the shield strapped to my arm. “That’s new. Where did you get it?” 

“I found it actually.” 

I unstrapped it from my arm and placed it on table. “I want you to see this. Every now and then the images flickers” 

Annabeth frowned. “The image?” 

“Just look.” 

It took a few seconds for anything to happen. The shield rippled and this time the image was different. The shield showed ancient Greeks in a lush green vineyard picking grapes for wine. 

Annabeth’s eyes went round. “You _do_ know what this is, right?” 

“Yeah, that's why I have it. 

I told her the story of how I freed a giant turtle and was attacked by the giant fish. “Can you believe it?” 

“No, actually. The shield of Achilles has been lost for centuries. How come you just so happened to come across it?” 

“I think it’s a sign, Annabeth,” I said. Yeah, it sounded cheesy, but I meant it. “Maybe now that Jason, Piper, and Leo succeeded in their quest, things are starting to look up.” 

But the look on her face said otherwise. My hopes started to waver. 

Annabeth invited me to sit down on the porch chairs. She explained everything to me that happened since I left, and it was a lot to swallow. 

The good news: we finally knew what happened to Percy. The bad news? He was kidnapped by Hera who swapped him with Jason, who was from the Roman demigod camp. Hera believed that the switch would unite the two camps together. Percy most likely had his memories wiped, like Jason had. He’d have no recollection of his life, friends, or anything. 

Annabeth’s throat caught a little when she explained the last part. It hurt to hear that news. It put a twist in my stomach. I couldn’t bear to hear that news if I was in Annabeth’s—or even Mrs. Jackson’s—place. 

I admitted to Annabeth that I already knew about the Roman gods. I explained what Hayden told me and that I swore to Thetis that I wouldn’t tell anyone until the time was right. Seeing that the news was already out in the open, I felt that this _was_ the right time. 

At first, Annabeth looked shocked, and for a second I thought she might go off on me or stab me with her dagger. But she just sighed and said that she understood the ramifications of breaking an oath. She still sounded a little angry, but said that she didn’t hold it against me. 

Annabeth continued to explain the story. Jason, Piper, and Leo were the first three of the seven demigods from the prophecy who had to gather. Percy, too, since was taken by Hera and at the Roman camp. Annabeth had offered to go, and reasoned that the other two campers were at the Roman camp. 

Then came worse news: Gaea, the Earth goddess, was beginning to wake up and was plotting her revenge. While Hera was kidnapped, her godly powers were being drained and used to raise the king of giants, Porphyrion. Giants are much worse than the Titans, FYI. They can’t be defeated without the gods’ help; gods who won’t speak to us. And monsters didn’t stay dead for long since Gaea forced opened the doors of death. The seven demigods had to prevent Gaea from waking and the giants from overthrowing the gods, or the entire world would be destroyed. 

So was that news a bombshell? Yeah, that was an understatement. 

I slumped in my chair and stared at the camp. As usual, camp was completely alive with campers and activity. It was hard to see this place any other way. I couldn’t stand the thought of it being destroyed. 

“Now I know why you waited till now to tell me this,” I said. “Y’know, I never thought that Mother Earth would be evil. I always thought she’d be a nice team mom type with the voice of Whoopie Goldberg” 

Annabeth glared at me half-heartily. “That’s a _cartoon_ , Kaia.” 

I sighed.  “I know, Annabeth. It’s just… I gotta dumb it down, all right? Make it easier to accept.” 

I guess it made sense. In the old stories, Gaea had her giant army specifically to oppose the gods and overthrow them. But it was still weird, growing up, you hear all about how loving, kind, and gentle Mother Earth was. But Mother Earth was evil, and was bringing the dead back to life. 

I couldn’t help but think about Hayden. With all the people and monsters coming back to life, maybe Hayden could… 

The tiny voice in my head was screaming. _You can’t be serious. What you’re thinking is demented._

I felt guilty. Hayden was happy in Elysium now. She was with her dad. It was wrong to wish for those things away from her. 

But what about all the things she wanted to do while she was alive? All the things she deserved to do before she died were now suddenly available again. I wanted Hayden back so badly. 

I wanted to sob. It didn’t seem far. Monsters like Medea and Midas and gods know who else were brought back to life to serve Gaea. Couldn’t she let some _good_ souls get through? Souls that didn’t serve some evil patron. 

Then, something in my mind started to click, like I found a missing puzzle piece to a picture so horrible that took a second to finally comprehend what it was. Mortal souls coming back from the dead…an evil patron… 

I must’ve been making a strange face because Annabeth asked me, “What are you thinking?" 

It took me a moment to answer her. "Remember Mrs. Tot. The crazy teacher who was really a crazy princess who tried to kill me?" 

"Yes." 

"We never really figured out why she was still alive. And she said something about a patron who wanted to me dead..." 

Annabeth’s eyes went wide. "And you think her patron… was Gaea?" 

“Yes,” I said, suddenly sure of it. “But I don’t understand. I'm not one of the seven, why would Gaea place a hit out on _me_?” 

Annabeth’s brow furrowed. I could almost see the gears turning over and over in her mind. “I'm not sure. But if Gaea is anything like Kronos then she might have layers in her plan. Nothing would be straight forward. Maybe she thought you could impede her plans. There are plenty of powerful demigods in the world who aren’t the seven who could pose a threat to her.” 

I couldn’t see how. I wasn’t as powerful as Percy. How could I pose a threat to Gaea? 

But that didn’t matter now. What was important was that Percy was most likely safe. Knowing that almost put my mind to ease. Leo and his sibling were building a warship that would be done in six months time. Percy was strong. He could hold out until we got to him. 

~*~ 

Now that Festus the dragon was now reduced to a head, Chiron finally announced that Capture the Flag was back. 

The teams were divided as such: Athena, Poseidon, Tyche, Hecate, Apollo, Iris, Hephaestus, Demeter, and Morpheus. The red team was Hermes, Enyo, Zeus, Ares, Nike, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hebe, Hypnos, and Nemesis. 

With the Ares, Enyo, and Nike cabins on the same team, we might have a tougher time getting their flag, that is if they were busy fighting each other.  They were all prideful and competitive. I liked winning, but not enough to maim, burn, or break anyone’s bones. 

The Blue team met up during the week to trade chores and discuss battle strategies. Cabin nine wasn’t around as much, since they were off helping Leo start to build the Argo II. 

And since I was the fastest person at camp, they deemed me worthy of being the messenger boy to relay that information to cabin nine. As a response, I walked the whole way there. 

When I got to Bunker nine, the large limestone door was already open. 

Jake Mason was the first one to see me. He looked better; at least he was on crutches and not in a full body cast. He seemed happy to be up and about. 

He grinned. “Hey, Kaia.” 

The rest of the cabin looked up and greeted me. They all seemed much happier than they were before I left. Maybe their curse was lifted? No one looked too bruised and there were no miniature automatons running around shooting tiny arrows at people. 

I waved. “Hey, guys. I got the plans for Capture the Flag.” 

I rolled out the map of the woods on one of the work tables. Little red and blue Xs and Os were dotted about like a football strategy map. Cabin nine crowded around the table to get a good look. I spotted Leo near the back of the crowd. I remember that Annabeth told me that he was the new head counselor for cabin nine. 

“The Apollo cabin is guarding our flag,” I said. “They’ll hid in the trees and attack from above. The Iris cabin is on border patrol. The other cabins kinda decided that you all were gonna be the distraction and charge through the middle and fight whoever the red team put on the front line. Probably the Hermes or Ares cabin.” 

No one really seemed to mind all that much. They were all probably just glad that they got the chance to play the game again. 

I continued. “We have a couple groups of three and four serving as decoys. I’m on a team with Malcolm. All of us are gonna spread out into the red team’s territory and try to draw the defense away from the main raiding party.” 

“I got good news then,” Jake said. “I fixed and improved the camouflage armor that…that Beckendorf made. I added cloaking helmets and other parts of the armor.” 

I grinned. “Dude, you rock.” 

Jake blushed. “It was really simple, really.” 

Leo whistled from the back. “Invisible armor? Man, you got to give me the notes on that.” 

“Actually, Leo,” I said. “The other cabins and I kinda talked about this. Since you were fast enough to dodge Festus’s attacks, maybe you can join Malcolm and me. Speed comes in handy when you’re outrunning enemies who want to kill you.” 

Leo shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’re on a time limit. The Argo II needs to be ready by June on the Solstice.” 

“Maybe Kai has a point, Leo,” Nyssa said. “You _are_ one of the seven. You should probably go along, just for fighting experience.” 

Still, Leo looked unsure. 

“I’ll take care of things while you’re gone” Jake said. “I won’t be much help during the game, but I can still build.” 

“Think of it as training to learn how _not_ to die,” I added helpfully. 

After some persuasion Leo begrudgingly agreed. 

I explained the rest of the plan to the Hephaestus cabin. As I went, I got more and more excited and I could feel that the others were anticipating the game, as well. Afterwards, Jake gave me the armor and instructions on how it worked. Leo came over to hear the demonstration, too. He was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Dude, that is awesome! You could totally use this to rob a bank or something.” 

“Which is exactly why _we_ have it instead of the Hermes cabin,” Jake said. 

I glanced over to the bulletin board where the blueprints for the new ship hang. “So the Argo II? It’ll be bigger and better than the original, right?” 

“You better believe it,” Leo said. “We’re cooking up some serious plans for this spanking hot war machine.” 

I looked at Jake, who just laughed. “Spanking hot war machine?” 

I walked over to the board and stared at the warship design. “How can something that complicated be built in six months?” 

“Lots of nonstop work,” Leo said. “And no sleep.” 

“Wow. You’ll practically be living here.” 

I thought about that. Leo wouldn’t get to be a normal camper. He’d miss out on Ancient Greek lessons in the morning, monster fighting classes, and whatever pranks the Stolls were planning next; all of the things that made camp life actually fun and enjoyable.  It seemed a little unfair. 

Jake started to explain the mechanics and inner workings of the invisible armor, but his techno babble flew straight over my head. Instead, my mind started to wander, half forming ideas by itself. 

~*~ 

The night had finally come to play Capture the Flag. 

The pavilion was buzzing with excitement more than usual. Anticipation hung in the air as Chiron explained the rules. The teams were sectioned off on either side of the dining pavilion. Leo, Malcolm, and I stood together near the back. 

Leo’s head shot up as Chiron stated what was allowed and not allowed during the game. “Wait. Weapons— _real_ weapons—are allowed? I’m not looking to get shish kebabbed.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “Hardly anyone dies.” 

“Thanks. That’s real reassuring,” Leo muttered. 

“It’s not that bad.” 

The image on my shield changed into the bloody battlefield. 

I frowned. “This thing’s got a cruel sense of humor.” 

Malcolm noticed the shield and his jaw dropped. “Is that what I think it is?” 

“Yep.” 

“How’d you manage to find it? I thought it was lost.” 

“A giant talking turtle was caught in a dolphin net and I was attacked by Rainbow Brite’s piranha…” 

Both boys looked at me funny. 

I frowned. “What? That didn’t make sense?” 

“Why would _any_ of what you just said make sense?” Malcolm said, rubbing his temples. 

There was a collective cheer from the campers as each team was led into different parts of the wood. We trekked through the darkness; the glow of celestial bronze as the only sources of light. My shield was the only weapon that didn’t glow. I noticed this the night I got it, but I couldn’t figure out why. If Hayden ever read how come the shield never glowed, the memory just wasn’t there. 

Our team crowed around the flag in the clearing as Annabeth refreshed everyone on the game plan. 

The conch horn blew, and the game had began. Everyone went off into different directions into the woods. I waited a beat before leading Leo and Malcolm left into the woods. We hopped over the creak and were in enemy territory. 

All around us, there was fighting. Swords clashed together in close combat, fighters yelled defiantly. There was a sharp _ZIP_ and a _FOOM_! The familiar sound of a fart arrow going off. The smell of rotten eggs wafted through the forest. 

Everything was going smoothly. We came across the Enyo cabin, a couple of kids who watched one too many Quentin Tarantino movies as children and were now completely desensitized to any kind of violence. They were probably even more aggressive than even the Ares cabin. 

Their cabin leader, Amara, was a little different from her siblings. She was polite and formal in the way she carried herself, and could be much more calculating than her siblings, which made her a much more dangerous enemy. She was just as good of a fighter as the Ares kids, if not better. 

I had a kind of respect for Amara, though we didn’t hang out much. I had the feeling she’d get along just fine with Hayden. They both liked to read for _fun_. Weirdos. 

(Okay, so I read Greek myths, but that was for my survival and in a language that made sense to my Dyslexia riddled brain. And _maybe_ I read the occasional comic book, but those had pictures. No, I’m not making excuses.) 

As soon as we were spotted by them, the three of us fled right. Just as planned, they followed us. 

“Get back here, you cowards!” one of them yelled. 

How bout no? 

The three of us fled deeper into the forest, the Enyo cabin hot on our tails. I was always a little ahead, trying not to out run the guys. That was always hard to keep in check, since it was so easy for me to run faster than everyone else. But that also meant that our pursuers were able to catch us to us. 

I turned just in time to see a whirl of red hair and a flash of bronze. Amara struck over head. I blocked the attack with my shield and pushed against her, hoping that I could knock her off balance. Unfortunately, she was sturdy as a stubborn horse. 

Her other siblings all attacked at once. Leo was fending off an Enyo girl with nothing but a hammer the size of my head. He swung the weapon and dented the shield of his opponent. Malcolm was fighting two enemies at once. He could defend himself from attacks with his shield in one hand and go into offensive mode and attack with his blade in the other. 

I slashed at Amara with my sword, but she blocked the strike with her blade. She kicked square in the chest and I landed on my back, hard. 

As quick as a thought, Amara leapt over me like a gazelle and darted into the woods—towards blue team territory. Normally I would’ve just let her go. She’d be taken prisoner or get into combat with one of my team members, but she was running in the direction of the flag. 

“Hey!” I jumped to my feet and chased after her. 

I nearly lost her in the thickness of the forest. I heard fighting and came across her fighting off another member of the blue team. Amara managed to disarm them and incapacitate them out with the pommel of her sword. 

She noticed me out of the corner of her eye and sprinted away. “I’m close, aren’t I?” she called out, but it wasn’t really a question. 

I picked up the speed. I wasn’t going my full power, but I was still hauling butt faster than average as I navigated through the trees and chased her. I mentally cursed myself for letting her knock me down. This would’ve been over in a matter of seconds. 

Amara burst into the clearing where the flag was prominently displayed. I could hear the stomping of feet behind me but I didn’t bother looking back to see who it was. Arrows zipped down from the trees from unseen archers and landed next to our feet. The two of us managed to avoid getting hit by blunt arrows, or our shoes pinned to the ground. 

I was about five feet behind Amara. Four. 

She grabbed a hold of the flag— 

_SCREEEECH!_

The sound of a bass guitar amplified a million times exploded in the air. My brain to mush as the world slipped out from under me. I heard a loud popping sound that was probably my ears. Everyone screamed as they flew into different directions. 

I slammed into an oak tree and landed on top of something a lot softer than the ground. My right arm ached from the impact with the tree. My sight was fuzzy. I couldn’t make sense out of anything. 

Then, something groaned underneath me. When my eye refocused, I realized that I had fallen on top of Leo. We made awkward eye contact for a second too long. It was the first time I notice how warm and brown Leo’s eyes were— 

_Now is not the time!_

I scrambled off of Leo, my cheeks burning. 

“S-sorry,” I muttered. “You okay?” 

“Oh, just peachy,” Leo said sarcastically. “I never really needed those eardrums anyway.” 

I helped him up and looked to the direction where the noise had come from. Will and Kayla were standing there as Kayla was lowering her bow. He gave her a reprimanding look. 

“Did you _have_ to use the sonic arrows? Don’t you think that was a little extreme?” 

Kayla looked away sheepishly. “I didn’t think it though. Sorry everyone.” There was cheering coming through the woods and the sound of a conch horn, the telltale sign of the end of the game. We’d won. 

Campers came into the clearing carrying an Iris camper on their shoulders. The red team’s flag had transformed into a glittery, multicolored banner. 

Amara looked distastefully at the Apollo kids for a moment before regaining her composure and going off to join her team. When she passed by me, she nodded and smiled as if to say _good game_. I returned the gesture and went over to grab my sword before joining in on the celebration. I wanted to enjoy the good moment for a while. 

~*~ 

A few days later, I went up to Chiron to tell him about the idea I had. He gave me the go ahead, and I left the Big House carrying a couple of books. I was a little nervous, though I wasn’t sure why. 

Leo was alone inside of Bunker Nine. He was wiping off Buford the table lemon pledge. Leo was able to fix the little table pretty well and now Buford was walking straight and didn't bump into any walls. Buford would get kinda pissy if you cleaned him with anything other than lemon pledge—no knockoffs or Windex. Leo didn't give me any details, but he told me that he learned that lesson the hard way. 

I grinned when I saw him. “Howzit, Leo?” 

“Sup, Kai.” He frowned. “What's with the books? You raid a library?” 

I placed the books on a table. “I had this idea. I figured that the only way for me to help you guys on your quest is to help you. You won't be able to go to classes like everyone else and learn about monster fighting or Ancient Greek. You'll need a tutor, of sorts.” 

“A tutor?” repeated. 

“Of sorts.” 

“And _you're_ volunteering?” 

I shrugged. “Fine. If you don't want my help –” 

“I never said that. I just never would’ve guessed that you were an intellectual type.” 

“If you’re done insulting me, I'd like to get an answer.” 

Leo thought it over for a second. “I guess it couldn't hurt. You won't be giving me any detention, right?” 

“I make no promises, Valdez.” 

He laughed drily. “And I was _just_ starting to miss school, too.” 

I grinned at him and he smiled back. I got the feeling that this would be the start of a really weird friendship, and I was looking forward to it. 

"Let's get started then."


End file.
